Abandoned Souls
by desy
Summary: Set after X3: After spending the night with Marie, Logan leaves abruptly to search for his past. With Logan gone, the now cured Marie is subjected to her former classmate's cruel treatments until she decides to leave. In Washington she soon meets a feral man, she hadn't seen in a long time. ROGAN and ROCTOR
1. Prologue

SUMMARY: Set after X3: After spending the night with Marie, Logan leaves abruptly to search for his past. With Logan gone, the now cured Marie is subjected to her former classmate's cruel treatments until she decides to leave. In Washington she soon meets a feral man, she hadn't seen in a long time. ROGAN, Victor in here too

SPOILER: Set after X3. Will include X0 Origins

RATING: M (T at the moment, but it will go up quite soon!)

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Everything belongs to Marvel and FOX.

A/N: I wrote on this story parallel with my two other X-Men fanfics and I thought I should finally load it up to FF net. Don't worry I'll update _'Diapers, SchoolBooks and AdamantiumClaws' _and _'Pain of a New Life'_ soon.

I hope you like the pic of this fanfic (I like this new feature).

English is not my native language. Please tell me my grammar mistakes.

**Abandoned Souls**

PROLOGUE

The soft rustling and opening and closing of drawers didn't surprise Marie at all when she woke in the wee hours of the morning and saw a lone figure emptying the dresser stealthily. She had seen this coming weeks ago. "Ya running again?" She said matter-of-factly while sitting up in his bed, the thin sheet slipped down from her hip, revealing her bare skin, her after four long years touchable skin.

His large frame froze in the middle of shoving his tee shirts into the duffel bag. She knew, even without his enhanced senses and only the moon's faint light illuminating his bedroom, that she had caught him off guard. When he turned around a mixture of emotions swam in his hazel eyes and he sighed heavily.

This was the situation he wanted to avoid at all costs. His plan had been to be miles away when the girl woke and realized that she was one of his one-night-stands. Taking a deep breath he began. "Marie, you deserve better than what I can offer you." The small smile on her face told him that these words didn't shatter her dream of a happily ever-after. "Dunno if I ever was relationship material…" He trailed off, unable to find the right words. She was his best friend and he didn't want to hurt her, let alone loose her, but she shouldn't get the wrong impression.

Marie waited expectantly, a small grin about his uneasiness crept onto her face and she was almost expecting him to shuffle his feet – but this was one of the few things the Wolverine didn't do. "Ah know this was an one-night-stand. No strings attached, sugah."

You could see how the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders and he regained the control over his legs again, walking over to the bed. He sank down on the mattress next to her legs, a little worried that this young and innocent girl – no, not so innocent anymore – understood his need for meaningless fucks, his animal's primal urge to mate. "Marie…"

The brunette scrutinized his concerned features and cracked a grin. "Ya forget Ah had a part of ya in mah mind for years. Ah still have your memories." She hitched her brow in his trademark movement.

He had to chuckle, remembering again what made this girl, he had picked up three years ago on an icy Canadian road, so special. Why she was the first person after 18 years of loneliness that had found the key to open his heart and built a comfy nest in it. His chuckles died down and his face became gentler, his hazel eyes searching for her chocolate ones. "I need to know who I was before I can move on."

"How long will ya be gone this time?" The first time he had left her after Liberty Island he had disappeared for over one and a half years. After the raid he had decided to stay at the mansion, yet from time to time the loner in him got the upper hand and he went on his trips for a week or two at the most. But this time, Marie knew he would be gone much longer.

"Dunno… maybe a year… maybe longer."

"But ya gonna return?"

"Yeah, kid. I promised to take care of you and I meant it." He took a deep breath. This emotional stuff wasn't his thing. "Besides, where else should I return to? You're my closest friend… My only family."

She smiled softly about his words. "Ah'm gonna miss our rides on your bike and our hockey evenings."

"Yep, and your meat-cheese-guacamole-drowned nachos." He gave her a wolfish grin. "But I'm not gonna miss your stealin' my beer." They shared a laugh before both their expressions became serious. "Better get goin' 'fore Ro declares me the babysitter again." He leaned forward and brushed a chaste kiss onto her pink lips. "I don't have my tags anymore, so…"

A hearty smile formed on Marie's face while she clutched Logan's red flannel she was wearing, crumbling the fabric above her stomach with her hand. "Ah already have something of ya."

Logan smiled gently and placed a peck onto her forehead, taking a deep breath of her calming scent. "Looks better on you anyways." With this he leaped to his feet and grasped the strap of his duffel bag and swung it over his shoulder, approaching the door.

"Take care, Logan."

"You, too, kid." Logan glanced back one last time, glad that he left with everything clear between them.

A/N: Like it? Hate it? Reviews make me write faster…


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Big thanks to **Mezza999**, **Kristen, ksp2010, alt-plus-3** and **tanya2byour21** for the reviews!

Kristen: I don't intent to make Rogue a pitiful mess nor a heartless, cold woman, so you're right here (maybe you also want to read my other fanfic: 'Pain of another Life')

Here's the first chapter:

X

CHAPTER 1

The weeks following Logan's departure were everything else than peachy for Marie. After her grumpy protector had left the mansion, the other students' opinion about the once untouchable girl didn't stay behind her back any longer. Even as Logan was still around, Marie didn't miss the with hatred filled glares her former friends cast her way. But with him gone, she had become the perfect target for pranks, gossip and vandalism.

One day, she just returned from her college-classes, Marie found her normally locked door standing ajar and her once long-sleeved shirts and sweaters were spread on the floor while the cut-off sleeves were arranged on her beddings, reading 'TRAITOR'. She had cried silently, before approaching Storm about the new incident.

The brunette knew that the weather witch didn't approve of her choice to take the cure, but her former teacher still treated her like before. Like every time, Storm held a speech that the culprits shall make themselves known and apologize, but as always nobody knew anything.

It hadn't taken her long to make plans for a life away from Mutant High and so she left with a quick good-bye to Jubilee, Kitty, Piotr and Storm and a letter for Logan - containing her cell phone number – cutting her last ties to her life as a mutant.

With her few savings from a summer job as sales clerk and a few bucks slipped into her jeans' pocket by Logan, she made her way to McLean, Virginia, where she had found a cheap and small apartment and a job as waitress at a diner, just a block from her apartment building. This was just a part-time job to bridge the two weeks before she could start at her real occupation as assistant teacher at The Langley Primary School. Marie had already applied for the job the same day her clothes were destroyed and thanks to her status as 'cured'- mutant the brunette received a positive answer.

After the disaster at Alcatraz, the government had passed a new law that mutants and former mutants have to be more integrated into society to lessen the likelihood of a war or attacks. So new 'integrating' schools popped up out of nowhere across the whole country – the high financial support from the state hadn't anything to do with this occurrence - at least officially.

Marie was looking forward to spend her days with kindergarteners, helping them explore the world and teaching them. In order to earn more money for the years to come, she would resume her job at the diner at the weekends. She would need the money soon.

X

Sure to have left her past as a mutant behind her – nobody except the school's headmaster knew about her being a 'cured' mutant, for everyone else she was a normal human woman – Marie strolled over to a booth across the TV taking the order of a new customer. Her heart sped up when she saw the dark hair on the back of the man's head and her breath caught in her throat when she saw the sideburns on the man's cheek. _'Logan?' _A small glimpse of hope sparked that her first and only lover was looking for her, but when the young brunette stopped at the table and the man turned his head to face her, the cat-like grin she was faced with made her heart skip a beat.

"I knew I smelled someone familiar. Whatchaya doin' here so far away from the geeks, frail?"

His piercing blue-grey eyes froze her to the spot, flashes of a tree trunk crashing into a truck and Magneto telling her that she would die flickered before her mind's eye. She saw his grin widen at her fear, his sharp canines reminding her of what kind of animal sat before her. She pressed her eyes shut for a moment, steadying her nerves. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction to flee from the diner like the prey, she was in his eyes.

With a deep breath Marie opened her eyes and glared back at him. "Taking your order, Sabretooth." She noted his short hair, shaved face except for the all too familiar sideburns and his clean black button up and jeans. If it wasn't for that voice and his hands, she wouldn't have recognized him as one of her kidnappers.

A few chuckles escaped his lips, mocking her bravery while his gaze roamed over the girl's black skirt, skin tight sleeveless blouse and came to a stop at her bare hands that clutched her notepad to her stomach protectively. "Let me guess, they didn't want you any longer?" His eyes didn't leave her uncovered hands, though he had to admit that there were other body parts of her that were much more appealing to look at. _'The runt doesn't have a bad taste in females, no wonder he protected this one so fiercely years ago.'_

"Ah'm not paid for small-talk." She saw his nostrils flare and knew the moment his brow moved upwards that he knew it.

His eyes traveled upwards to her pale face. "Congrats, Stripes. And who is the lucky guy? Or has he already met the runt's claws?" Her fastening heartbeat and the change in her scent told Victor, he had hit a sensitive topic, but her features betrayed his initial assumption. After a moment of scrutinizing the girl's expression, another thought dawned on the feral and his eyes widened in realization. "It is the runt's."

'_He hates Logan! He's gonna kill mah baby and me!'_ Marie glanced around her, seeing the knife and fork lie on the tabletop next to the mutant's clawed hands. The exit was on the far end from her current position, so her X-Men training told her, her best option was to take the fork and stab him into the eye – Logan had taught them to play dirty – and run for dear life. _'And then? He'll heal in no time and kill me! Ah'm dead!'_

But to her bewilderment Sabretooth's expression became serious, but not in a predatory way. "Does he know?"

"Huh?"

Victor saw her eyes swap from the silverware to his face briefly and back. Rolling his eyes about the girl's obvious plan, he covered her chosen weapons with his hand and slid them a safe distance away on the tabletop, out of her reach. "Does the runt know?" His voice was edged with impatience.

Marie stared at the man before her, still not believing that she was still alive and he was sitting in front of her calmly. "Umm…"

"Is this a 'yes' or 'no', Rogue?"

The ring of her old codename broke the spell and she shot a glance over to her other patrons, before bending a little more towards the other mutant. "Mah name is 'Marie', if ya can read mah name tag."

He had to grin about her boldness. "Where is he?"

"That's none of your business."

'_Sure it is, if that idiot of brother of mine lets his child grow up without a father, only because that dick is on his year long journey to find himself!'_ Victor growled at the thought of his baby brother hunting after his past in the Canadian wilderness, but stopped immediately when he smelled a new wave of fear from the girl. "So he doesn't know about his cub and you have no clue where that idiot is at the moment?"

"The baby is mah responsibility and not Logan's. Can we finally close this topic, Sabretooth?" Feeling that the immediate danger was over – her intuition after month long study of Logan's behavior told her so - Marie fetched her pencil from her pocket and opened her note pad. "If ya won't kill me now, ya should finally tell me your order."

"Victor."

"What?" A frown found its way onto her forehead as she stared at him confused.

"Victor. My name."

She almost groaned at the sight of his cocky grin spreading about his features. "Fine. What do ya want, Victor?"

X

A/N: Mezza999: You were right :-)

So what do you all think about this turn in plot?


	3. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, you are awesome, guys!

If you imagine Victor, please the cool one from origins (portrait by Live Schreiber). In later chapters I'll try to explain his different appearance and why he didn't seem to recognize his brother in X1 (I think I made a really good explanation up).

In my opinion, Victor wasn't angry at Logan at the end of origins – he told him that they were brothers and thus will never be done; so he would protect his brother's kid; after all the kid would also be his pack.

Even though he knew Kayla was using his brother, he didn't really kill her because Logan loved her and only after Logan had learned of her betrayal and turned his back on her – Kayla was free to kill in Victor's option.

I hope I cleared all questions. Now back to the story:

X

CHAPTER 2

The large mutant was a regular at this diner, ordering steak or burger for his early supper every time his job allowed a visit. But today, he would make an exception, he could always eat at home – his fridge was full. "Coffee. Black."

"Anything else?"

"Nope." He bit down his chuckles about her annoyed expression and watched her walk away. _'Nice ass. Too bad she's Jimmy's.'_

When Marie had placed the steaming mug in front of Victor and had just returned to the counter, his dark voice sounded through the diner. "Refill!" She whirled around and her eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of Victor holding the now empty mug upside down.

"And please not so hot, Marie." He added with a smirk and saw her move behind the counter, murmuring curses. _'Impressive vocabulary…'_ Maybe this afternoon would become fun.

A minute later the brunette returned with a pot in her hand and an angry expression on her face. She gritted her teeth and swallowed her pride since the manager just returned from the kitchen and had an eye on her. She forced a fake smile onto her lips while pouring the coffee into the mug. "Anything else?"

"Ooh, yeah." He returned her _polite_ smile. "So you gonna keep it?"

'_How dare he?'_ Marie gapped at him, making him grin again. "Of course!" She spun around, her fake happy face in place and made her way to another customer at the other end of the room. Just when she turned around to tell the cook the new order, her eyes caught sight of Sabretooth again, holding his empty cup in the air, demanding his refill.

He heard her crunch her teeth form the distance and grinned in satisfaction as she returned to his table. "How far along are you?"

"Why do ya wanna know?" She shot back.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Just curious."

"Curiosity kills the cat, Victor."

The girl had guts. Slowly he understood that it weren't only her striking looks that had captured his baby brother's interest. "Gonna risk it. So?"

His probing look reminded her so much of Logan. "Eight weeks." She started to walk away. _'Why the hell am Ah telling him anyways?'_ Marie was only a few steps away from his table when his voice demanded her attention once again. "Argh!" She spun around, anger flaring in her chocolate eyes and she stomped back to her annoying customer. "Ah'm not gonna play twenty questions with ya!" She hissed, trying to not scream at him.

Victor only chuckled good humored about her outburst that had drawn the attention of several patrons and the manager. "Christ, I hope not. Twenty cups o' coffee in less than twenty minutes is even a challenge for my healin' factor."

He was playing with her and she tried to steady her breathing, to calm down. "Ah could leave the pot with ya." She suggested looking him square in the eyes.

"But then I'd have to tell Tina that her new waitress needs a lesson in service." From the corner of his eyes he saw the manager, a tall blond woman, approach. "Not to mention you'd blow your tip into the wind." He smiled at her almost sweetly, bearing his fangs in the process.

Tina was anxious about the scene her newest employee made and that of all of her patrons, it had to be her only – at least as far as she knew – mutant one. She wasn't fond of muties, but this man, though his smile sent chills down her spine and not in a positive way, was a good customer for months and he was nice and charming, even if not being very talk-active. Aside from this, the new policy about mutant integration would ruin her business, if press would get word of this.

She came to a halt next to the brunette and glared daggers at her before turning her gaze towards the mutant with a smile. "Is everything alright?"

Victor saw the Southern spitfire swallow and almost shrink. Their eyes locked and he flashed her his predatory smile. "Sure. Marie is quite a charmin' young woman." Usually he wouldn't bother a thought about _not_ ruining people's jobs and lives, but this girl carried his niece or nephew. _'Brothers watch out for each other… and what is theirs.' _His piercing gaze switched over to the older woman and he saw her shudder almost immediately. _'Such a pathetic frail.'_

The manager took a step back and nodded at the man with a fearful smile. "If you will excuse me, now."

Marie waited till her boss had vanished into the kitchen again. "Thanks, Victor." She wondered why he was nice to her despite his obvious joy to make her feel miserable. "Why didn't ya?"

Victor shrugged and sipped at his warm coffee. "If she'd have kicked your pregnant ass out, whom shall I bother then?"

The brunette groaned and walked over to the counter to fetch her other customers' orders. She hadn't placed the plate with the quesadillas down, when she heard him again. "Refill!"

'_Fuck him!'_

"Are you plannin' on tellin' him?"

She narrowed her eyes at Victor. "If he shows up and asks who the father is, then yes."

"Marie, more coffee." … "So you gonna be a single mom?"

"Yes, why not?"

"Refill!" … "Raisin' a cub all on your own. Dontcha think it'll be a little hard?"

'_For Christ's sake! Why can't he leave me alone?'_ "Ah wanted this baby and Ah've already a pretty good idea on how to support mah child, so it'll be happy." This comment made him furrow his brows.

"Coffee." … "So you got pregnant on purpose?"

"That's none of your fucking business!" She snapped at him, causing several heads to turn their way once again.

Victor remained calm, which he knew would only anger the girl further. "Don't think that dangerous pulsin' vein on your forehead is a good sign of health. Doubt high blood pressure is good for the cub."

Marie lowered her voice. She didn't want her boss to learn so early about her condition. "Ah doubt running from one end of the diner to the other every minute is good for mah baby either."

"You could always take a seat and refill my coffee." He watched her turn and storm away.

After another two cups and the urge to tap his foot on the floor and his index-claw against the tabletop, Victor rose to his feet and approached the restroom. When he returned, he caught sight of the clock and decided it was time to end his game – at least for today. He walked up to the counter.

Behind it stood a very annoyed looking Marie. "Let me guess, more coffee?"

"Nah." The feral shook his head and fished his wallet from the back-pocket of his pants. "It's gotten late. A blueberry-muffin for take-away and the bill, Stripes."

The brunette hitched both eyebrows. "What ya already leaving? Got someone else to torture?" A playful pout was on her lips and he had to smile. "$ 4,48."

"You already missin' me? That warms my heart." He placed a 10 dollar bill on the countertop and grasped the muffin.

She fetched the money and retrieved his change. "Nah, that warmth comes from the two liter coffee, ya drank." When she looked up, Sabretooth was already at the door. "Your change?"

"Nah, is fine. Your tip for puttin' up with me."

Marie stared wide eyed after the man, Tina next to her mirrored her expression.

X

A/N: Later comes a better explanation why Marie became pregnant on purpose.

Thanks for tip with the 'bill' instead of 'note'.

I hope you liked it! I like your reviews, they make me write faster.


	4. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

A/N: Big thanks for the many reviews! They made me write faster.

theisis70: Did you hack my pc and read my outlines of chapter 6?

X

CHAPTER 3

The next day at the same time a tall in black clothed man entered the diner and sank down in the same booth as the day before. Marie rolled her eyes and approached the table. "Please, Victor, do both of us a favor and wait with your game another quarter hour till Ah have break."

"Only if you gonna join me."

"Humpf." He would terrorize her the next hour if she would decline his offer. "Fine. Do ya want coffee again?"

"Hell no! Not for the rest of the month!" This made Marie grin as she fetched her note pad. "Gonna have a beer and the country-fried steak, rare."

"How else…" She muttered under her breath, but knew with his sensitive ears Victor had heard her clearly.

"And a chocolate muffin as take-away again." Victor stared a little baffled – just for a friction of a second – at his brother's trademark hitched brow, the brunette was giving him.

"Afraid eating sweets in public might damage your reputation?"

"Hardly, my sweet." He licked his lips, gazing at her hungrily as she tried to stop the chill that run up her spine.

"Anything else?"

He flashed her his toothy smile, baring his fangs in the process. "Just your company, Stripes." It surprised Victor that his predatory smile hadn't the same effect on her as the day before. The girl was nervous in his presence and he could tell she never let her guard down, but she didn't let her fear hold her prisoner either.

"Alright, Victor. Gonna get your beer." A moment later she returned with his booze and the muffin. "Your steak is ready in a sec. The unfreezing takes longer than pulling the meat over the grill once." She always thought it disgusting when she was out with Logan and he ate a steak rare. She preferred her food dead and _very_ well done.

After serving the other tables Marie removed the apron from her hips and folded it neatly. She placed the fabric onto her bag in a corner of the kitchen and fetched Victor's plate, a tuna sandwich, a bottle of Sprite and a book and entered the diner's main room. "Here ya go, Vic." The brunette placed the steak in front of the waiting feral and the sandwich across from him, sinking down behind it.

She saw his distant glare linger on her for a moment, before he grasped fork and knife and tore into his meal. "What?"

Victor hardly chewed as he wolfed down the meat and felt the girl's eyes on him. After a minute he met her gaze. "It's been a long time that someone called me that."

Marie thought she saw sadness flicker in his blue eyes, but dismissed it as her own imagination. "Or do ya prefer Vicky?" Her grin was met with a deep snarl in warning.

She slipped her hand into her jeans' pocket and retrieved a small paper bag. Before shoving it back into her pants the brunette fished a dark red pill out and swallowed it with a sip of her soda.

"What's that?" Victor grunted after she didn't bother to answer his questioning gaze.

She saw his nostrils flare and smirked smugly. "Oh, only drugs." The low growl didn't startle her as much as the concerned and disapproving expression he gave her. "Geez, ya're grouchy today." His low growl resumed and she became serious again. "That's prenatal vitamins."

The mutant eventually tore his piercing gaze from the girl and took another bite of his steak. "So it's good for the baby?"

Marie furrowed her brows in curiosity about his concern for her unborn child. "Yep. That mah baby will be healthy." With that said, she bit into her sandwich and opened the thick book, she had borrowed from the library.

"What's that?"

"A book. Ah'm sure ya might have seen something like this before." She peeked over the page and saw him roll his eyes while his throat emitted another growl. "Boy, did a mouse steal your milk, or what happened?"

His snarl got louder and made a few customers look scared their way, but Marie stayed unfazed by his animalistic behavior. Thanks to Logan she knew to interpret his body language and the different nuances of growls. His clawed hand snatched the book from her fingers and closed it. His gaze swept over the letters as he placed it rather unceremoniously onto the tabletop. "Stephen King?"

Marie shrugged and took another bite from her meal. "Ah like his books." After a swig from her soda she eyed him annoyed. "So, what ya want, Victor? Or are ya enjoying growling at me while wolfing your meat down?"

He huffed and returned his stare to his steak. "You gonna raise your cub here?"

"If ya mean here in the diner, then the answer is _no_. If ya mean McLean, then _yes_." She paused a moment and narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance. "At least Ah had planned until now."

This made Victor laugh darkly and Marie stared at him in confusion. "If my presence is the reason for your worry, girly, then I have to tell you that simply movin' away won't hinder me to pay you a visit."

"Ain't ya exaggerating a little?"

"What? You ain't believin' me I could track you down wherever you hide?" Doubt was written all over her features. "The runt's currently a little south of Calgary."

It took Marie a moment to process this information. "Ya're shitting me."

"Nah, how else should I beat the runt to a pulp once a year on his birthday?" Her expression told him that this wasn't new information for her and that she started to believe him now. "You have quite a mouth, Strips. Doesn't suit such a beautiful woman."

"Huh? Was that a compliment?"

Victor swallowed the last bite of his meal and leaned back in the booth. "Nah, just an observation. Didn't the runt teach you some manners?"

"Logan?" Marie laughed heartily. "He only provided me with a whole new spectrum of cussing."

"Really? There was a time, the runt blushed at the mere thought of usin' a 'bad word'." Marie's laughter continued at his hitched eyebrows and he soon joined in with a few dark chuckles.

When the brunette's hilarity had died down to a grin, a whole new set of questions popped up in her mind. "So ya knew Logan before he lost his memories?" Wolverine and she had always assumed this, since Sabretooth began his yearly attacks only a few months after Logan had woken up on that Island surrounded by debris.

Victor's eyes got a mischievous glint. "If you wanna know, it'll cost you."

"What's your price, Sabretooth?" Marie asked suspiciously and finished her sandwich.

"Information." He emptied his beer and eyed the girl across from him. "What exactly had happened at Alkali Lake one and a half years ago?"

"Huh?" This was the last thing Marie had expected. "Umm, well… There was that raid at the mansion and that military scientist-"

"Stryker." Victor put in and sensed her surprise about his knowledge.

"Stryker wanted to use the Professor to rid the world of all mutants."

Victor got a little impatient. "Yeah, remember that pain. But I already know that much. What happened to Stryker?"

Marie stared at him in bewilderment before answering. "Logan said that he died when the dam broke."

The mutant only nodded in acknowledgement. "And back to your question: The runt and I know each other for a long time. Even before Stryker took his memories."

Marie's eyes widened in disbelief. The answers Logan was looking for so long were within her grasp. "Ya know who Logan really is? His real name?"

"Yep, but I won't tell you." He saw how her face fell and motioned with his chin towards the kitchen door where Tina stared at the clock and Marie in turn.

"Damnit, now when it gets interesting mah break is over." The brunette muttered and rose to her feet reluctantly.

Victor snickered and watched her stack their plates and glasses and head over to the kitchen. His gaze caught sight of her book on the tabletop and he picked it up when he shrugged into his black coat. The moment Marie returned to the counter he slid the book towards her with a lazy grin while holding the muffin in his free hand. "You forgot somethin', Marie."

Her small hands grasped the book immediately and she hid it behind the counter. "Thank ya." She saw him retrieve his wallet and placed the bill next to his claws. "Ya already go?"

"Yep, have some stuff to take care of." His grin turned to his trademark toothy/fangy smirk. "I'm gonna give you a break tomorrow."

"A break? How generous of ya, Victor!" Marie flashed him a mocking smile. "Found someone else to scratch your claws on?"

"Somethin' alike the lines." The humor had left his voice and his cold blue eyes silenced her at once.

Her stomach clenched at what he implied. _'He's gonna kill somebody!'_ She kept staring after him when he left the diner, only noticing the 5 dollar tip a few minutes later.

X

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter! Reviews make me happy and write faster


	5. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

A/N: Big thanks for the reviews!

Concerning the reviews: Marie doesn't know that Victor and Logan are brothers (neither does Logan know this – his amnesia…). As far as Marie knows, Victor is another feral, who pays Logan a visit every year only to beat him up (I never read the comics, but I read summaries of Victor and Logan at Wikipedia). And thus she thinks (beating someone up isn't nice after all), Victor hates Logan, but in my opinion it's his twisted way to 'take care' of his little brother.

X

CHAPTER 4

Two days later Victor took his usual place across the TV, where the news headlines rolled over the screen. Marie approached him, her eyes glued to the report, telling that a major player in the human trafficking scene had been found dead this morning at his summer cottage, together with his two bodyguards. The brunette huffed and opened her note pad. "Somehow Ah doubt it was a grizzly shredding those men." Her chocolate eyes swapped to his claws. "Sounds more like a cougar or a really big cat."

Victor flashed her his canines. "You might be right, Stripes."

Many little girls were sold as sex-slaves by Sabretooth's latest victim, if the children survived the transport in the containers, that is. So in Marie's eyes that bastard deserved to meet Victor's claws. "What can Ah do for ya today, sugah?"

The mutant scented the air and was a little surprised that the girl seemed to be at ease even with his confession about his latest kill. "Beer, the cheeseburger with ham as extra toppin' and a blueberry muffin for take-away."

"Will be there in a minute." Marie whirled around and told the orders the cook, before she returned with his beer. "Here ya go."

"Thanks." He eyed her a moment, his forehead wrinkled. "You fine with the _death_ of that bastard?"

The brunette leaned closer to the other mutant and lowered her voice. "He deserved it for what he did to those girls."

He hitched a brow at her comment and whispered. "So as long as I kill the bad guys, you fine with it?" He saw her shrug her shoulders, but her eyes told him that it didn't really bother her. "At least I look much better than that Dexter guy in the TV."

"Ya got a point there, but different than him, your appearance screams 'serial killer'."

The feral hitched his brow in half surprise. "Really? What happened to the sassy Southern Belle? You call me sugar and now you compliment me." His tone dropped to a rasp whisper and he looked at her amused features.

"Nothing happened to her, Vic." She winked at him. "Just telling the truth." With that she turned around and approached another customer while Victor stared at her long legs, licking his lips.

He could tell that she never let her guard down around him, but her self-confidence in his presence had already reached a level, where she wasn't scared to death anymore and wouldn't watch her every word and movement. The young woman began to treat him like a normal person – something only his little brother did or dared to do, but she still held in mind that her life and that of her unborn child were at his mercy. He liked that. And he liked her attitude. Not to mention her curves. _'Oh shit! Now I find a chick worth a try to get her _willingly_ between the sheets with me and she has to be my friggin' brother's mate! Life truly hates me!'_

Victor wasn't on good terms with his brother since Lagos, now almost 25 years ago, but they were still brothers no matter what and he wouldn't betray James – even if the other man's betrayal and words still ached his heart after so many years.

He had always put his brother and his demands and welfare first, staying in Japan with him after WWII and treated the frail, James' had called his wife, civil. Even with his knowledge about the backstabbing bitch Kayla, he hadn't killed her, though he wanted to do nothing more back then, but Victor knew that if he had done it then he would have destroyed his brother and the bond they shared. He had been so delighted as James had turned his back on the bitch after finding out she had only used him. But other than to see that Victor had once again watched out for his brother and even had held himself at bay to not really kill her, the love-sick and moral ridden idiot changed his mind and made it clear that Kayla wasn't free to kill.

This had hurt Victor even more and that his brother truly wanted to kill him a few moments later and his life was only spared by the frail's begging. But even then Victor had jumped beyond his own shadow and helped his brother fight Deathpool, only to receive the cold shoulder as reward.

Despite what everybody including his dear little brother thought about him, he wasn't as cold and self-centered. James would always stay a part of his life and he would look out for the younger man, even if it included beating the crap out of him on his birthday and not making a move on his girl.

X

The days flew by and both of them began to look forward to his daily visits. He would taunt her or annoy her and she would snap at him or tease him with some cat related comments. Sometimes they would make some flirty comments to make the other smile. But what both enjoyed the most were their talks about Logan.

Victor wouldn't tell her anything really important about his brother's past, like his name or what had really happened at Three Miles Island, but he told her stuff, he hadn't thought he would tell anyone ever. Sometimes his stories about some idiocy his brother had done decades ago made both of them laugh and stirred a similar story about Logan's antics from the brunette.

The large mutant truly liked her – not that he would tell anyone – and his initial concern for his brother's child had grown to genuine concern about the young woman's well-being. This was the reason why he took a seat at the counter this day and not at his usually spot.

Marie looked up at him and greeted him with her bright smile – something else he liked about her, her smiles wasn't faked any longer. "Hey, sugah. What can Ah do for ya today? Oh, we just got cherry-muffins." The brunette still wondered why he took his desserts away instead of eating it at the diner like everyone else, but she had given up her probing… for now.

"Then I'll have one of those, sweetheart. And the fried chicken." Victor eyed her a moment as she placed his beer in front of him like usually. "Where were you yesterday?"

The young woman shrugged off the feeling that she might have picked up worry in his dark voice. "Switched shifts. Ah had a doctor's appointment." She answered honestly after telling the cook his order.

Victor furrowed his forehead at her carefree expression. "You fine, Marie?"

"Sure. It was a baby doctor, Victor. Just the monthly checkup," she whispered, before her voice returned to its normal volume. "If ya won't stop fussing about me, people might think Sabretooth would care for a little Southern gal like me."

He returned her grin, showing his fangs in the process. "Don't flatter me. Might damage my reputation."

"Uhu." She rolled her eyes and headed over to another customer, fully aware of Victor's lustful eyes on her bottom.

X

A/N: Reviews are a wonderful thing :-)


	6. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! It's really hard to make everyone of you happy, but I have a turn for this story, you surely don't expect and I hope you'll like, but you have to wait two chapters to find out.

X

CHAPTER 5

It was the month's last and Victor would have taken a seat at _his_ booth, if his sensitive nose hadn't picked up on Marie's alluring scent mixed with a load of perfume. His eyes darkened slightly as his own desire was stirred by her smell and her looks. She wore more make-up than normal, making her eyes brighter and larger as they were and her full lips even more inviting for him to crush his mouth on.

He took a deep breath and sank down on a stool at the counter across from her. "Good god, girl, you're horny as hell!"

Marie blushed slightly at his comment and glanced around if someone might have heard him. "Keep your nose to yourself, Victor."

The large man furrowed his brows as the brunette moved past the counter, clad in a black mini skirt, matching high heels, skin tight whine-red shirt with a deep V-neck, presenting him with his first view of her creamy cleavage while her long salt and pepper hair framed her stunning features in lazy curls. He tore his eyes away as he saw her hitched brow linger at him in question. "That's not your note pad, Marie." He eventually said and motioned to the small black leather purse, she clasped in her hands.

"No shit, Sherlock!" The brunette chuckled about his desperate attempt to keep his gaze away from her breasts. _'Woah, did Ah just turn Sabretooth's head?'_ Batting her lashes at him she closed the distance and tiptoed slightly, so her breath was tickling against his neck while she whispered. "Mah shift just ended. Gonna hit a bar and get myself laid."

"What?"

Marie bit her tongue to not burst into a fit of laughter at the other mutant's shocked expression and paling face. "Bye, Victor." She was half way to the door when she turned around and smiled at him. "Just to let ya know, sugah, Ah'll start mah new job tomorrow. Ya'll see me here only on the weekends then." Meaning unless he would start working on the weekend and drop by on his way home, he wouldn't see her any more.

X

It didn't take Victor long to recover and he immediately left the diner and followed Marie only a few meters behind. _'What the fuck does she think she's doin'? She's Jimmy's mate for God's sake!' _He followed her down the block and saw her turn into a smaller street. For once he didn't care if she knew he was tailing her and didn't rely on his senses to tell him what she was doing around the corner, so it happened that he almost bumped into her as he turned the corner.

Marie had her arms crossed over her chest and stared rather annoyed at the large man. "Are ya stalking me for a change?"

"No." Victor watched her whirl around and continue her way. Only a second later he was beside her and he eventually demanded "What the fuck did you mean by gettin' laid?" as they stopped in front of a bar. It was then that he noticed the big TV screen in the center of the large room when he looked through the window. "A sports bar?"

"Ya complaining, big guy?" She opened the door and walked over to the counter, fully aware that he followed her in and took the seat beside her. After ordering herself a coke and he grumbled a 'beer' towards the bartender, the young woman eventually faced him. "And back to your question. Ya said yourself that Ah'm horny and your nose doesn't lie." She saw his piercing stare and the confusion and anger on his features. "Blame it on the hormones if ya like."

Victor growled low as he contemplated how to get his point over without giving too much about his caring for James away. "Yeah, fine, but you're the runt's! You can't go around and do some prick."

"Why not? And since when am Ah Logan's? Just because Ah'm having his kid?"

"Well, yes?"

"Ah'm not more his than he is mine." She stared him square in the eyes. "We're talking about Logan here, Vic. It was just an one-night-stand for him like any other night before and any night afterwards." The doubt slowly vanished from his features as he processed this information. "The only thing special for him might have been that he actually knew mah name." Marie eventually took a long swig from her Coke, her eyes centered on the glass.

'_Jimmy has no claim on her other than bein' her cub's father…' _Still, there was this nagging feeling in the back of his mind, telling him that it wasn't right for him to pursue his lust and desire for this woman.

Marie began to trace her index-finger along the rim of her glass as the silence stretched on. "Shall Ah pine for Logan the next years, while he has his fun with some nameless bar flings every night?" Resolve she hadn't known until now stirred a well suppressed rage. "Not gonna happen, sugah. Ah have all right to enjoy mah own meaningless fucks with some jerks." She drowned her glass in one long gulp and faced the feral. Victor's bewildered expression drove her over the edge. "What? Do ya guys think, ya are the only one with an itch to be scratched?"

_'What the fuck? This chick is nuts!... on the other hand she knows what she wants and isn't one of those pathetic frails Jimmy used to drag into his bed.' _His eyes darkened as he drew in another alluring breath of her scent. _'She has spirit! I like that!' _He felt his inner animal growl in anticipation. _'She's a challenge!'_

Marie's eyes scanned the bar. It was still early and the few losers hanging out were sending scared glares towards her fangy _friend_. With a sigh she faced him again. "Would ya please leave me alone, Victor? Ya scare all mah potential lovers away."

The feral had made up his mind. _'To hell with Jimmy! If she was just a fling for him then it's just fair that I get my share as well!' _"Maybe you don't need one of those punks." His eyes locked with her chocolate ones.

Marie had noticed his lustful gazes the past two weeks, but decided that her current _condition_ was the reason why he never made a move in any way. She hid her sudden surprise with an inquiring hitched brow. "Suddenly became interested in me, huh?"

"Who said you're the only one lookin' for some horizontal exercise?" His voice was husky while he watched her lick her lips sensually, then her eyes lingered on his talons and not only her scent told him that his claws got once again in his way to have a willing woman. With a low growl he picked his beer up and emptied it in a few gulps. The animal inside him roared in anger by the audacity that frail dared to show towards him. The blue of his eyes was swallowed by black and his hand not grasping the bottle in a death grip balled to a fist.

It wasn't that she couldn't think of spending a night with Sabretooth, she had grown to like him – fine two weeks ago she would have thrown a fit if someone had told her that she might think Sabretooth attractive – but she knew from her experiences with Logan that it would be more than rough. Then again, he would know the rules – no strings attached - and it wouldn't be awkward when they would meet again at the diner. "Can ya keep the scratches to a minimum?" She reached out and covered his large fist with her small hand, oblivious to the tumult in the feral. "Ah don't have a healing factor and Ah'm not keen on looking like a scratching post on mah first day at the new job tomorrow."

Her words were almost swallowed by the rage and roars of the beast, but her gentle touch made Victor listen to her. At first he wasn't sure if he had heard right, but her fingers were tracing his slowly opening fist – his wounds caused by his own nails healed immediately – and she was looking at him expectantly. She had his darkening eyes obviously misinterpreted with lust instead of rage. The epinephrine let his blood rush south immediately and he nodded tentatively, not trusting his voice for once in his life.

Marie smiled and bit her lower lip. Maybe it wasn't her best idea, but then again, the feral had already showed her that he could find her whenever he wanted. "Umm, mah place is just down the street, sugah."

His lips twitched to a wolfish grin and he retrieved his wallet, paying for both their drinks. "I know, darlin'."

This wasn't what surprised Marie, but when Victor held the door of the bar open for her like a gentlemen, did, and then that he slipped his arm around her waist, pressing her gently against his side while they walked down the sidewalk.

X

"Give me a moment." With those words she vanished in her small bathroom.

Victor's gaze traveled over the tattered once upon-a-time white couch in front of the well-used coffee-table – she wasn't the first owner of that pitiful piece of furniture, he doubt Marie would notice if he left a happy face scratched into it. Next to the sofa was a small shelf with books borrowed from the library in it, while a radio – the only piece of electronic, besides the stove, toaster and coffee maker in the way too small kitchen – stood on top of it, framed by two pictures. One showed Marie with an Asian and a brunette girl and a tall boy and the other one was one of Marie on her graduation day with an ever-scowling Logan resting his arm about her shoulders.

The living-room with the attached kitchen was clean and Marie had tried her best to make it look homey with a red curtain, a carpet and a vase with flowers. Victor heard water running in the bathroom and decided to inspect the two rooms next to it. The first one was really small and the window practically _was_ the whole outer wall of this empty room, but the teddy-bear-curtains in pastel colors and the fluffy silver-grey rabbit-carpet made Victor guess that this would be the cub's room. He scented the air and his nose told him that those two things for the baby were new and not used before by some strangers as seemed the rest of her belongings.

The second room was a little larger and contained a queen-sized bed with a nightstand and a dresser next to a small wardrobe. All in all the best word to describe this apartment was indeed: small.

Victor approached the dresser on top which two pictures of Logan and Marie stood, and he opened one drawer finding an all too familiar red flannel neatly folded on top of her tee-shirts.

His sensitive ears caught the sound of the tabs being finally shut. She had been gone for quite some time now and Victor feared she might have changed her mind. A frustrated snarl rang from his lips and he began to fight the rising anger – he wouldn't endanger his brother's cub.

The bathroom-door opened and Marie found the living-room empty and the door to her bedroom open. She straightened the short black satin nighty and entered the bedroom. "Sorry, Ah took so long."

His face was priceless when he looked up from her dresser and immediately scented the air. "You washed?"

Marie grinned and sauntered over to the puzzled feral. "Ah thought that chemical scent might not be the most pleasant smell for ya." She slipped gently her soft hands around his neck "Ah can always put the perfume back on." and tiptoed making her lips hover over his.

Victor was like in trance as he grasped her perfect ass with his hands and squeezed it. "No." Her hot breath was tickling his lips, inviting him. "I wanna smell you… your arousal..." His mouth closed the distance to a hungry kiss, his tongue was granted access immediately while her hands tousled his dark mane.

She moaned and fought his dominating tongue, finally pushing into his hot mouth. Her tongue stroked over the sharp tip of one of his fangs and the resulting surge of adrenaline made her almost lick his tooth.

'_Jesus? She likes the danger?' _She was the first woman ever to caress his fangs this way and getting turned on by it. A soft purr began to rumble in his chest involuntarily and he opened his mouth further for her explorations.

It hadn't taken his hands long to find their way under her nighty, discovering the lack of panties, but her hot slickness invited him and almost drove him nuts. Victor moved his mouth down her neck and cleavage, nibbling her soft skin while one of his hands unbuckled his belt.

Marie helped him to push his pants and boxers down and yelped in surprise as he lifted her up like a feather. She wrapped her legs around his hips feeling his throbbing member pressing against her entrance as he pulled her nighty over her head harshly.

Suddenly his hands were everywhere kneading her breasts and ass, his mouth licking and nibbling every inch of her body. "Not too harsh…" She brought out between moans as he let fall both of them onto the mattress. "Be careful," muttered Marie searching for words. "The baby."

X

A/N: Liked it? Please leave a review, they make me happy.


	7. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

A/N: Big thanks for the reviews! I know, the current turn of this story isn't the taste of everyone. I got a little carried away and new ideas keep popping up.

X

CHAPTER 6

At one point Marie had feared for her unborn child, but Victor made good to his word and tried to hold hurting her to a minimum. He was gentle for a feral, yet rough and wild at the same time. Now they were lying next to each other tangled in her bed-sheets, catching their breaths.

Victor tried to search his mind for a memory of when he had ever felt as content as he did now after sex, but came up empty-handed. He also believed it to be the first time a female screamed his name in ecstasy and not fear when he made her cum. And it was also a new sensation that he didn't feel the urge to jump up and leave as soon as he had pulled out of her. Eventually he rolled onto his side and observed her relaxed features as she stroked absently her stomach.

She faced him and he grinned at her bearing his fangs, when he lifted his index-claw to tug a white strand behind her ear. "The cub's fine. The heartbeat is strong and fast." He began to trace her cheek with the tip of his claw in a loving manner.

A gentle smile formed on Marie's lips. "Thank you."

They lay there in comfortable silence and suddenly Victor did another thing he thought impossible for him: He stirred a conversation after sex! "Why did you take the Cure? To be like anyone else?" His eyes were serious and his intense gaze was tightly locked with hers.

"Yes, but not the way ya make it sound." The brunette was drawing lazy circles on his muscular and hairy chest. "Do ya know how it is to hide from every touch – accidentally or not? To cover almost every inch of your skin the whole year long. To never hug, hold hands, have no human contact for four long years."

Suddenly it was important to her that he would understand her reasons and so a dam broke within her. "Ah never would have taken the Cure if Ah had any other kind of mutation, but Ah couldn't bear it any longer to live a life as an observer. Seeing everyone else around me be happy, and live mah dreams." A shy smile tugged on her lips. "Ah always wanted to have kids, to be a mom. Ah had that wish since Ah was a kid myself."

She didn't see any indication that he thought her odd, so she continued, her voice sad. "But then mah mutation kicked in and mah life turned into a nightmare. Mah dream was ripped right outta mah hands." Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes and she struggled to let them flow freely. "When Ah saw the other kids mah age kiss or simply hold hands, it only showed me what Ah would never have." She blinked her tears away and met his gaze. He was listening patiently. "Then the Cure was announced and it was a beacon of hope to eventually make mah dream come true."

Her hand left Victor's chest and returned to stroking her stomach. "Ah wanted this baby from the man Ah love and it doesn't matter if he is a mutant or not. Neither does it matter if mah kid will have claws or purple skin as long as Ah don't pass mah cursed mutation on to mah child."

The feral understood her and her fears suddenly. "The men are the one givin' the X gene to the next generation."

"Ah know."

"It is likely that the cub will be a feral like the runt." His voice was rough but still soft and he leaned his head onto his one hand.

"That doesn't matter to me. On the contrary Ah hope it'll have Logan's mutation." Marie faced him once more, a happy grin on her features. "Ah always knew Ah wasn't his top priority in life… that the search for his lost past has been his sole purpose in life and it hadn't really changed after he became an X-Men… Ah love him so much, but Ah don't wanna push him into anything he isn't willing to do out of his own heart's wish."

This made Victor hitch his brows. "Dontcha think that havin' his cub wouldn't put him into a corner?"

"Ah wanted this baby from the man Ah love. Mah baby is mah responsibility, Vic. If Logan shows up in a few years and is clean with his fucking quest… Ah would never keep his child from him and if he is willing to be a part of his kid's life, Ah'll be the last one to refuse. …But Ah don't wanna chain him to me. He wouldn't be happy with staying with me, while his friggin' past might be out there and getting him antsy until he would leave one day and mah kid would have to cope with the loss of one parent. … Always asking if it was their fault their dad run away." Silent tears welled up in her chocolate eyes and rolled down her cheeks. "Neither can Ah bear the knowledge that Ah might wait three, four, maybe a decade before he returns to me and Ah had put a stop to mah life and mah wishes. Ah want mah baby now. From the man Ah love." Logan had been the only real family she had ever known in her life –well, some foster families were nice and tried to open up the quiet girl Marie had been, but they neither understood how lonely she felt nor did they really deeply care for her to make her feel better.

She was right when it came to his brother: Time didn't seem to mean anything to him, neither did a call from time to time. She would be old and gray till he would get his head out of his ass and figure out what was really important in life. "What you gonna tell the cub if it'll ask after its daddy?"

"The truth: That Ah loved their father with all mah heart, but he had had a bad accident in the past and needs to find out who he really is before he can move on. And that he doesn't know about me having his child… But that if he knew, he would surely return and love his kid." More tears ran down her flushed cheeks. "Until then, Ah'll give mah baby enough love for the both of us."

"A kid needs more than just love."

"Ain't like Ah don't know." She wiped her eyes - her vision was too blurry. "Ro had promised me a job as teacher at the institute. It would have been wonderful to raise mah baby there…" She saw his silent question. "For most people there Ah'm a traitor to our kind… Kids can be cruel, you know?" More tears welled up in her puffy eyes at the thought of her treatment there.

Silence stretched on and Victor didn't like to see this strong female cry – another uncharacteristic emotion for the mighty Sabretooth. "You just took what you wanted." He muttered after a while.

"It's just the way ya do things, Victor. Ya take what ya want." She rolled onto her stomach and folded her arms on his chest before resting her chin on them. "Ya would have taken me tonight with mah consent or without it."

"So you just gave in?"

"Nah. Ah wanted fun and ya wanted fun." She said with a playful grin. "Apart from that, most of the guys in the bar were – how would Logan put it – dicks or pansies." Victor's dark laughter rumbled in his chest beneath her. "Ah don't have a lot experience, but Ah guess sex with one of those jerks would have been … boring."

He didn't miss the twinkle of pure lust in her eyes and his hands wandered to her ass, his claws carefully scratching her alabaster skin. "You like to play with fire, eh?"

"Maybe…" She gave him a seductive gaze, batting her long lashes at him.

His eyes were darkening and his voice became huskier. "You could get burned, darlin'."

"But maybe it's worth the risk." Her delicate fingers run up and down his sideburns while her swollen lips drew closer to his.

X

Marie felt slowly strength return to her wobbly legs as she lay with her upper-body on the foot of her bed while she was still bent over after their second ride, panting hard.

Victor relished in the view of Marie's butt still being presented for him to fuck, but his conscience told him that he might have already overstayed his visit. "I havta go now." He murmured and staggered to his feet, looking for his shirt.

"What?" Marie glanced over to the digital clock on her nightstand. "Ya kidding me, Vic. Ah don't expect ya to stay till dawn but it's friddin' 7:30 PM!" She had turned around and suddenly she was flaring with energy, glaring at the mutant in disbelief.

Victor felt her piercing gaze follow him through the room. "What?"

"Does it turn ya off that Ah'm all willing and horny for ya?" She climbed on her bed and kneed on the sheets her arms crossed about her naked breasts. "Or am Ah that bad in bed?"

"Hell no! You're talkin' bull now, Marie." He snapped at her. "I already told you I have to leave early."

"Ah thought ya meant to leave early to find a fuck?" Her scowl darkened.

"No." The seriousness in his voice was impossible to miss. "I meant it."

Marie felt kinda hurt, she didn't want him to move in, but why is her second lover fleeing from her like Logan did? - No, Logan at least sated her desire and knocked her up, but Victor was about to leave her horny. "What? Do ya have an appointment to slaughter some drug dealer?"

Victor sighed and sat down on the bed to put his socks on. "Not tonight."

She wrapped her slender arms around his neck from behind and trailed hot kisses down his jaw line while caressing his hairy chest with her fingers. "C'mon."

The feral growled amused. "You're really needy, huh?"

"Blame it on the hormones if ya like, but Ah wanna be fucked right now!"

Victor chuckled and searched for his boxer shorts. "I need a shower really bad. I'm all sticky and bloody."

"Ya're one to talk! Ah'm the one with scratches all over the body! Yours are all healed already!" She had left a few marks of her own with her fingernails. "How about a quickie in the shower?" Marie hitched her brows in suggestion. "Ah always wanted to do it in the shower." She licked her swollen lips.

Victor stared at her, her need heavy in the air, his member hardening once again. _'Fuck! A few minutes won't hurt…'_ "Sounds like a plan, sweetheart." He picked her naked body up with a lustful growl – groping her ass - and began carrying her to the other room. "You know, I could get used to be begged for sex."

A/N:

Reviews are a wonderful thing! I hope you are all satisfied with the explanation of why Marie got herself pregnant.


	8. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews.

Please keep in mind that until now Marie left the mansion about two weeks ago and Logan left the mansion only 10 weeks ago - in my opinion it's too soon for him to call, after all he didn't seem to have called the mansion between X1 and X2 and I guess that at least one year would be between the plots of the two movies. And he seems to be the type of guy, who forgets time: a) on his important search for himself, b) his daily life is pretty much the same EVERY day (driving, drinking, fighting, fucking) and you soon forget how much time has passed by or that it's already the next month, c) he's a loner at heart and has all eternity due to his healing factor - a year is nothing for him and he might 'forget' that other people around him don't have this luxury.

Logan will return, but not so soon.

X

CHAPTER 7

Marie was a little sore after her exercises with Victor the former night and hoped that she wouldn't have to run with the kids too much today. But before she could play with the children, Heather – a blond woman in her early thirties – introduced her to Camille, an assistant teacher about Marie's age, who looked a little misplaced in a kindergarten with her manicured pink fingernails, fake eyelashes and three inch high Prada stilettos.

The obviously fake blond shook hands with Marie, eying her from head to toe. "That's a nasty gash." Camille remarked, her gaze locked onto the two inch long scratch on Marie's back of the hand.

_'Ya should see mah ass-cheeks...' _The brunette smiled and shook her head. "Looks worse than it is. A cat scratched me."

"Must have been a big cat."

"Yep, the biggest I've seen so far." Marie tried her best to suppress her southern drawl.

Heather walked over to a group of children playing with building blocks and cars. "These are Jessie, Cameron, J.D. and the twins Sally and Hally." Marie couldn't suppress her grin and the older woman continued in a lower voice. "Their older brothers' names are Ken and Ben." Heather clapped her hands and got the attention of all of the children. "Hey, pumpkins, please come all here, I wanna introduce someone to you!"

The little boys and girls came all running towards them, their eyes wide. Most smiled, but a few were shy and hid behind the bolder children.

Marie crouched down to the kids with a gentle smile on her lips. "Hi, sweeties, I'm Marie." The kids all said a "Hi, Marie." in a chorus. "I hope we'll have a lot of fun together!"

"Yeah!", screamed a few and two girls immediately stepped closer to Marie, one reaching for Marie's white bangs. "You have funny hair!" "All white!"

"Like my granny!", put Cameron in and Jessie asked innocently "Are you old?"

Camille watched horrified, obviously glad that she wasn't center of those bold questions. Marie on the other hand chuckled amused. "No, honey. I'm not old. Do I look old to you?"

Little Jessie blushed and he shook his head vigorously while the other kids giggled.

"Why is your hairs white?" inquired a strawberry blond, one of her teeth missing.

Marie felt Heather's eyes on her – she was kinda testing her – and the young woman simply asked back "Why do you have blue eyes?"

The girl thought a moment and then shrugged. "Dunno."

"See, sweetie, and I don't know why I have white strains." Marie lied. "But you know what?" Her gaze traveled over all kids' expectant faces. "That's a good thing. Wouldn't it be boring if everyone would look alike?"

"Confusing like Sally and Hally!", yelled Cameron and the twins looked a little upset.

Marie inwardly smacked herself. "Umm..." She reached out for the two sisters. "Hey honeys, will you come here to me please?"

Reluctantly the two stepped forward and Marie eyed them for a long moment.

"What are you doing?" asked J.D. eventually.

Her eyes never left the two girls. "One moment please." You could see that the kids felt more awkward with every passing second and Heather was about to have a little talk with her new assistant teacher as Marie finally smiled. "You aren't completely similar." She lifted her hand and pointed at the freckles on the left cheek of each girl. "Your freckles look like a triangle, but your sister's doesn't."

"Huh?"

Suddenly almost all kids pushed forward and stared at the twins' cheeks. "She's right!" "Sally has triangle-freckles and Hally not!"

"Really?" The girls smiled at Marie.

"Yep, sweeties. See everyone is a little different and that's what makes everyone of us special."

All children smiled and the twins ran over to a mirror to see for themselves while Cameron and another boy took Marie by the hands. "Will you play with us, Marie?"

"Sure. What are you playing?", the brunette asked while she stood up and was pull away by the children.

X

An hour later, Heather continued her _briefing_ with Marie. She was impressed how the young woman had managed her talk with the children. They were standing a few feet away from the playing toddlers and she pointed at two children, one boy playing with Play Doh alone in a corner of the room and a brunette girl with pigtails playing house with the twins. "And those two need our special attention." Her gaze rested on the little girl. "Chloe won't eat properly, though her parents say that they have no problems with her at home. Otherwise she's a sweetheart."

Then Heather looked over to the dark haired boy and Marie remembered him to be the only child staying in the background during her introduction. "And this is Vincent. He's a really shy little guy. Hardly talks with anyone, only whispers. He's always playing alone in some corner and shies away as soon as other kids come his way." Vincent looked briefly up. "And he seems to dislike Camille. Every time she comes near him, he starts to cry like it's the world's end." Her features became concerned.

"And he's scared pretty fast, so don't do any weird noises around him. Last week we made strawberry sauce and he ran out into the garden and hid on the playground as soon as we switched the mixer on."

X

Marie let her gaze travel over the eating children. A faint smile was on her lips as she saw Chloe chew happily on her pasta. Her eyes traveled one table further and Marie frowned as she saw Vincent sniff at his food. The brunette approached the boy and crouched down next to him observing him sniff at his glass before drinking. When he took another fork of pasta Marie had to smile as she saw his teeth. "Vincent, open up your mouth for me please." She whispered and the boy obeyed, flashing her his small canines.

Heather noticed her new assistant teacher looking into a child's mouth. She immediately walked over and Marie stroked the boy's head when she got to her feet. "What are you doing, Marie?"

The brunette walked a few feet away from the children and held her voice low. "He's manifesting."

"Manifesting?" The other woman gave her an are-you-nuts-look.

"His mutations are developing. Ah think he's a feral, that's why he behaves odd."

"A feral? Will he get fur like that ambassador?"

"You mean Henry McCoy? Nah, not necessarily."

Heather was confused and felt kinda helpless with this topic. She knew that there was the chance to have mutant students – especially with the new law – but she had always thought that only the fifth or sixth grade teachers would have to deal with a kid beginning to show their mutant trades – not her in the kindergarten class. "Okaaaay. And what influence has his mutation on his behavior?"

"The senses of ferals are very sensitive. He hears and smells much more than we do and Ah think it's overwhelming him." Marie thought about an example. "That's why he cries in Camille's presence. He's having a headache from her perfume." Marie remembered the time after she had absorbed Logan's enhanced senses and her trouble adjusting to her surroundings. "And the other kids are simply too loud for him, that's the reason why he always whispers. Everyone else around him is screaming in his opinion."

"Oh." This suddenly made sense. A lot of sense. Maybe this new assistant teacher could indeed help her with the children – other than Camille, who busied herself with pulling soil from under her nails – again. Her eyes fell upon her other problem child. "And how did you bring Chloe to eat without throwing a tantrum?"

"She doesn't like sparkling water. It's prickling too much for her liking." The other woman stared at her for a moment then her gaze switched over to the little girl, sipping from her still water. "She was thirsty and couldn't eat any more."

X

A/N: Liked it? This was actually the very first chapter I wrote for this story about two or three years back (My stories all look like puzzles at first and have ideas for other stories in their files).


	9. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! They make me write faster.

X

CHAPTER 8

Heather and Marie were putting the toys back into the boxes and shelves, while one little boy still sat drawing at a table - all his classmates were already at home or were just picked up. "Vincent is one of the few in the all day kindergarten program. His father is a single parent and I think he's a high animal in Langley." The older woman hitched her brows. "I mean that literally."

"His father is a mutant?" Marie was now curious to meet that man and maybe talk with him about his son's manifestation.

Nodding Heather further lightened her voice, now aware that the child might hear her even from the other end of the room. "He's charming the one moment and in the next he's creepy. I never wanna be alone with him in a room." She saw a black SUV turn into the school's parking lot and shuddered. "When you speak of the devil..." She wanted to make the boy's father leave as soon as possible, so she got the child ready to go – as usually. "Vincent, your dad is here. C'mon, I'll help you with your coat."

The little boy jumped up from the chair and let the crayon fall onto the stack of white papers. He ran over to the two women, his newest picture in hand and a shy smile on his lips. Marie grinned as the toddler came to a halt in front of her and held his drawing up above his head. "For you," whispered the boy and waited for Marie to kneel down and take the sheet of paper from him.

The brunette was touched by this gesture – she hadn't thought to be accepted and liked by the kids this fast. "For me?" A nod. "Thank you very much, Vincent!" She scrutinized the yellow and green dots and remembered the yellow flower she had picked on the playground to put into the ponytail of little Karin, who had cried about her damaged Hello-Kitty scrunchy. "That's a beautiful flower, sweetie!" Her praise made the child beam at her and she ruffled his hair.

"That's quite a honor to be presented with one of his drawings," rang a gruff voice from the door frame and Marie looked up with a 'huh?', startled by the familiarity of the voice. Before the young woman could get a coherent word over her lips, Vincent had spun around and ran smiling towards the large man, hugging his leg tightly. "Daddy!"

"Had a good day, cub?" A clawed hand ruffled the boy's dark hair and the small guy looked up into his father's smirking features, nodding vigorously. "That's good."

"Hallo, Mr. Creed," greeted Heather and even Marie could smell her fear in the air.

"Hallo." His blue eyes locked with Marie, who finally stood up. "So that's your new occupation? Could have mentioned it."

"Ya didn't ask," brought the brunette eventually out, still baffled to see Victor of all people in a place like this.

Grunting, he rolled his eyes and picked his son up. "C'mon, Marie. I'll drop you off at your apartment."

"Umm..." Marie wasn't sure if she was already allowed to leave, so she casted a questioning look at her boss. It would spare her the bus-ride cross-town. "Heather..."

The woman in question was still in shock that the new one was apparently friends with that creepy man – the same she wanted to leave as soon as possible. "S-sure." She held Vincent's coat out for Marie to take. "We'll see us tomorrow, Marie."

The brunette smiled and took the cloth. "Thank you! Bye!" and sprinted out the door and caught up with the two ferals, who had just turned to leave.

X

"So, _daddy_, why didn't ya mention your bundle of joy?" Marie finally asked as Victor had strapped his son into the safety seat in the back and had presented him with a chocolate muffin and then sat down next to her in the driver's seat.

"I strictly differentiate between family and … you know. I don't want Vin get attached to someone and then he has to lose that connection again just because it didn't work out." Not that he usually brought any frails home – son or not – or would bother to see them a second time – the frails wouldn't have WANTED to see him the first time.

"It doesn't mean we have a relationship just because we ended up between the sheets." Marie hitched her brows in suggestion. "Even if it would happen again. It's just s-e-x." She caught sight of the little boy through the rearview mirror.

A predatory smirk tugged on Victor's lips. "So you wouldn't mind a repeat-performance?"

"Was nice last night."

"Just nice?" His brows went up.

She giggled. "Maybe a little more than just nice." A blush crept onto her pale cheeks. "Though Ah leaked the half day long." He laughed heartily. "Maybe that's the reason why Vincent said he liked mah scent."

"He did?" This surprised the feral and his eyes searched for the young boy on the backseat. "Vin, you like Marie's scent?"

The boy nodded while chewing, crumbles stuck to his fingers and mouth. "Marie smell nice."

"SmellS, honey." Marie corrected the boy, who repeated the word smiling.

X

The next morning – Marie was half an hour too early due to the bus schedule – Heather immediately took the young brunette to the side, eager to learn about her and Vincent's father's relationship. "You should have mentioned that you know Mr. Creed. It's no problem since we don't grade the kids, but-"

"Ah didn't know that Vic, umm Mr. Creed had a son. Let alone that it is Vincent." _'But there are a lot of similarities.' _The former mutant thought.

"Of what kind is your relationship, if I may ask?"

Marie felt herself blush. "We- we are just friends." '_with benefits'_ she added in her mind, but saw that her boss wasn't really satisfied with her answer. "Well, Ah jobbed at a diner and Mr. Creed is a regular there and we began to chat…"

"And how do you know so much about mutants?" Heather probed, she knew as her boss she wasn't allowed to ask directly if Marie was a mutant, thanks to the new law.

"Umm, Ah had a good friend… back at school, who was also a feral…" The brunette answered and was glad when the first kids arrived, eagerly introducing Marie to their parents or nannies.

Like the day before, Victor offered to bring Marie home, Vincent eating his blueberry-muffin in his safety-seat while the two adults talked about everything and nothing… and sometimes Logan. The young woman wondered what had happened with the boy's mother, but asking this in front of the toddler was a bad idea – and a part of her guessed she might not want to know the story.

So the weekend came and Marie had her shift at the diner. She couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched, but tried to busy herself with wiping the tables and keeping her eyes from dropping close – she was so damn tired and her 'afternoon'- sickness didn't help to do her work either. Ginger-ale helped her usually, but today in the morning she had emptied the bottle, and Tina had already asked her suspicious 'If she was alright' when she had hugged the customer's toilet. Lucky her, it were only a few patrons at the diner and she was able to get a new bottle during her break.

Now the brunette knotted the garbage bag and neared the backdoor. With a sigh she placed the heavy bag next to the dumpster and slid the lid back. The moment she bent down to lift the bag, a large hand covered her mouth – keeping her from screaming – and an arm slung around her middle – holding her in place forcefully. Marie struggled and was about to bite the man into his hand, when she felt a familiar purr vibrate in his chest, her back was firmly pressed against. Hot kisses rained onto her tender neck and a husky voice rumbled next to her ear.

"Thought I take you upon your offer of a repeat-performance, Stripes." Usually Victor loved the terror and fear in his sex-partner's scents, but with Marie her sudden relief laced with the other smells made him all the more harder. He relaxed his hold on her, when her struggles subsided, enabling her to turn in his _embrace_.

"You could say 'hi', like any other person!" Marie's chocolate eyes were angry, the adrenalin still rushing through her system. "Ah could loose the baby!"

Victor rolled his eyes and simply crushed his lips onto hers, his tongue licking and pushing for entrance. After a while he began to smell her arousal and she began to kiss him back, her tender hands caressing the nape of his neck. His clawed fingers slowly slipped further south until they were under her mini-skirt, shredding her panties with one swift move.

Yelping, Marie broke away, staring up at him with a scowl. "Do you have to rip my panties?"

A frustrated growl escaped his throat and he spun her around and unbuckled his belt. He never was a friend of foreplay.

X

Marie leant heavily panting against the dumpster, her legs still shaky. Her cloudy eyes searched for the feral behind her, when suddenly the backdoor of the diner swung open and revealed Tina, a long knife in hand. "Is everything alright, Marie?" She saw the young brunette jump in fear and look around her. "What was that roar?"

Marie felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment and was glad that Victor had ducked behind the dumpster and out of sight of her boss. "Umm…" She searched for words – an explanation. "Dog!" Finally an idea dawn on her with lust clouded mind. "T- There was a really big dog behind the dumpster. Ah thought it would attack me!"

"Where is it now?" Tina looked left and right with fear.

Marie pointed down the ally. "It just ran away."

"You fine?" Her waitress nodded and picked the garbage bag up and threw it into the dumpster. "You better come back in."

Marie obeyed with a last glance at Victor, her heart still beating in her chest like it would run a marathon. _'That was close!'_

As soon as the door fell close, the two women heard a bone-shaking roar. Tina bleached and locked the door immediately. _'This bastard!'_

X

A/N: I'm surprised that no one guessed correctly and saw coming that Vincent might be Victor's son.

I know there is another fanfic out there in which Victor's son is also called Vincent. This is indeed a coincidence (I wrote this chapter together with chapter7 years ago). After watching Origins, I had thought Victor's name was Vincent (I really don't know why?) and thus I decided to call his son Vincent, when I came upon my error…

Oh, and the muffin-riddle is also solved.

Liked the chappie?


	10. Chapter 9

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

A/N: Big thanks for the reviews!

_ alfredo joy: _Marie doesn't know that Logan and Victor are brothers, she only knows the two know each other for a very long time and that Victor holds the identity and past of Logan.

_ BoooYouWhore:_ This theory with ferals being (deathly) sick as kids before manifesting is also mine (would only be logical – natural selection – otherwise the world would be soon overpopulated by 'immortal' ferals). I included this theory in my ROGAN fanfics 'Diapers, SchoolBooks and AdamantiumClaws' and 'Pain of a New Life' (in upcoming chapters).

It seems in the Comicverse that some mutants were 'born' with their mutation active, though I'm not really sure (I don't read the comics and have my knowledge from Wikipedia).

Vincent's healing factor is still developing and thus he will be ill quite often.

Now back to the story:

X

CHAPTER 9

It broke Marie's heart to see Vincent again all alone in a corner – far away from the other children – playing with a toy-telephone. She didn't miss the longing in his blue eyes when he watched the other children play together from his spot. In the entire week Marie worked at the kindergarten, she had never seen once a kid speak with the little feral.

She walked over to the other children and crouched down. "Hey, why don't you ask Vincent, if he wants to play with you?"

Cameron wrinkled his forehead and nose. "Vincent is weird." And Sally added. "He don't want to play with us."

Marie knew he had heard this and her eyes wandered over to the small feral, who wiped a tear away. "Have you ever asked him to play with you?" All children shook their heads no. "Then how do you know he doesn't want to play with you?"

Some shrugged, but Hally answered. "He always go away when we go to him."

Marie sighed and looked around for Heather, but the other woman was still with Judy at the toilet. She stood back up and fetched a pillow and then sat down on the floor. "Hey, I want to talk with you about something. Please take your pillows and sat in a circle." She ordered with a smile and the children screamed enthusiastically and obeyed. As anticipated Vincent waited for the 'storm' to be over before he got to his feet and approached the group, his eyes red and wet. "Come here, Vinny." Marie held her arms open and with a little hesitation the boy crawled onto her lap, visibly shrinking as all eyes were on him.

"I want on your lap, Miss Marie!" J.D. called and made the feral wince.

Stroking the little mutant's back, Marie faced the other boy. "Tomorrow, J.D." Then she looked into the expectant features of the toddlers. "I want to ask you all a favor." All nodded vigorously – they all loved Marie. "Please don't scream so much and don't rise your voices."

"Why?" Sally inquired and made Marie smile.

"That's what I want to talk about. What do you know about mutants?" Marie heard silverware rattle and a moment later Camille poked her head into the main room, her eyes wide as saucers.

The children and their new favorite teacher simply ignored her and Chloe said while keeping her voice low. "They have funny skin." And other children nodded.

"Yes, some mutants have blue skin or fur. Some have gills and others even wings." Marie explained.

"Wings?" Cameron asked skeptically. "Like a bird?"

Marie smiled. "Yes. He looks like an angel."

"You have seen a mutant with your own eyes?" Ben screamed and made Vincent wince again.

"Please not so loud, Ben. And yes, I saw this man once fly over the city like a bird." Marie remembered Warren, who used to fly over the mansion.

"Wow."

"But all of you have seen at least one mutant." Marie said and heard her name being hissed in warning by Camille, while the kids looked around them confused. "You have to know, not all mutants look differently, some look like you and me."

"Really?," one exclaimed and another child wanted to know, "Why are they mutants then?"

"Because they have a gift. There are some mutants, who can move things with their thoughts, others can walk through walls or control fire or ice."

"I don't believe you?" Cameron again.

"Really? Then we make a little experiment. Cam and J.D. please go over to the window and I want you to whisper one word to the other."

"What shall I say?"

Marie shrugged. "Doesn't matter. And we others are all very quiet and everyone tries to listen."

The two boys walked over and Cameron whispered something to the other toddler. "Ok, come back to us please." Marie instructed and turned to the other children. "Did anyone hear what Cam said?" All shook their heads. "Me neither, but I'm sure Vincent knows." All eyes were suddenly back at the little feral, who searched for help in Marie's eyes. After a moment he said. "Appletree." And the two other boys gapped at him.

"You heard that?"

"Would you please sit back down and I'll explain it to you." Marie asked and waited till the whispers subsided. "Vincent here has also a gift. His ears are very very good and so is his nose."

"Vincent is a mutant?" Sally combined.

"Yes." From the corner of her eyes, Marie saw Camille hurry from the room, surely in search for Heather. "But you have to know that all mutants have to learn to control their gifts. And Vincent has to get used to the loud sounds around him. His hearing is so fine, even when we whisper, it is like screaming for him."

"Oh."

"You are all much too loud for him and it hurts his ears a lot. I'm sure he would like to play with all of you, but you are all too loud for him and it hurts him." Marie repeated and saw enlightenment in the faces of the children. She then looked down to the boy on her lap. "You were sad, weren't you?" With a quivering lip, the toddler nodded. "Do you want to play with the other kids?" Again a nod.

The door opened again and Heather and Camille entered, the older woman with a very angry expression. "Marie."

The brunette looked up, ready to defend her decision to have this talk with the children. "I think we are done, kids. I would be happy if you would include Vincent from now on and be a little quieter around him."

"Ok, Miss Marie!" Cameron screamed, but then placed his hands over his mouth when he noticed how loud he was.

All scrambled to their legs and returned to their games. Vincent was about to return to his corner, when Chloe approached him and tugged on his sleeve. "Sorry, I didn't want to hurted you." The boy stared at the girl, unused to be talked to. "Umm thanks."

"Do you want to play pony-school with me and Sandy?"

The feral smiled shyly and though playing with the girly stuff wasn't really what he wanted to do, he accepted.

X

While Camille had to watch the children, Heather had ordered Marie to the headmaster's office, leading the way with angry steps. As soon as they arrived there, she explained the incident to the headmaster, who started screaming immediately – already seeing the negative headlines in the news. "What in the world have you thought, Ms. D'Ancanto? The parents pay a lot of money, that we treat mutants and non-mutants equally. Not to mention that you have signed in your contract that you wouldn't expose a mutant student!"

"Vincent cried and was sad, just because everyone thought him weird. They didn't understand his behavior, just like Heather didn't." Marie tried to stay calm and hide her nervousness.

"But it was not your place to talk with them about this topic!"

"Who else should talk with them? Their parents? They hope their kids would learn it from TV or at school or somewhere else, just so they don't have to be confronted with this sensitive topic!"

"They are just toddlers! Way too young!" Heather put in.

"Hardly!" Marie took a deep breath. "Ah thought this school is to integrate mutants into the normal human society, but the way you treated Vincent and let the other children treat him, you only stir fear and hatred on both sides." She stared at the man behind the large desk. "They simply have to learn and understand why mutants behave differently and it's even easier when they are young and have no prejudges."

Her boss contemplated her words for a short moment. "You may have a point, but now is not the time for such experiments. This program is still young."

'_And you fear to lose the financial support…'_ Marie thought.

"We can only hope that Mr. Creed or one of the other parents don't take legal actions."

"Ah don't see why the other parents should sue you. This is a school and they learned to be considerate of one another and hadn't all parents signed that they are fine with mutants as classmates of their kids?" Marie took another deep breath, steadying her nerves. "Ah will talk with Mr. Creed and tell him that it was mah idea and mahne alone." She hoped that he wouldn't kick her out, she needed this job.

X

Half an hour later, Marie had a very big notation in her file and her probation period was extended for two months. That is if she wouldn't be kicked out when Victor decided to take actions against the school.

For the rest of the day, Heather never left her alone with any of the children, always keeping her and her words under surveillance.

As usually Vincent was the last one to be picked up and Marie waited near the school's entrance, ready to break the incident to his father. She was sure he would understand – it was better for Vincent this way and his canines would expose him sooner or later anyway.

X

"You had no right to expose Vin like this! We can't trust those normals! They will make fun of him or worse!" He balled his fists, his claws digging into his own palms, drawing blood.

Marie took a step back, not liking the pure furry twinkling in his eyes. "That's not what happened! Vincent was crying before that talk and all alone. Everyone evaded him because they didn't understand that they were too loud for him!" She tried to calm him – if he were Logan she would have caressed his knuckles, but touching Victor in this condition was nuts. "They already called him weird and he heard it!"

"What?" Victor growled his blue eyes turned to pitch-black – a primal and instinct driven expression on his face. "They made my cub cry!"

She further backed away until the wall stopped her, fear made her legs and hands tremble uncontrollably. "Vincent wasn't happy, but AFTER that talk the other kids played with him and he laughed!" Marie tried to reason with him, before every common sense was swallowed by the animal in him.

Victor held her gaze, the rage boiling under his skin. _'She tried to help the cub.'_ A voice in his mind tried to calm him. "You had no right!" He grabbed her neck tightly, making her whimper, his claws digging into her soft skin. "Who do you think you are?" _'She carries Jimmy's cub!'_ The air was thick with her fear, her lips already turning blue, while she desperately tried to loosen his grip, scratching him with her nails. "My son is none of your business, frail!" He leaned forward, his hot breath tickling over her pale skin and his sharp canines only millimeters from her face. _'Jimmy's cub!'_ "Don't ever forget this!" With a last painful squeeze he let go of her and stomped away, sparing her no last glance.

X

Vincent skipped happily next to his father. "…and I played school with Chloe and Sandy and then I builded a Lego-town with Cam and the twins." Suddenly he smelled Marie and looked into another corridor, seeing the brunette wipe her eyes and hold her neck, her features paler than usually. "Daddy, Marie cry!" He was about to run over to his favorite teacher, when a clawed hand griped him firmly, yet gentle by the shoulder.

"It's not our business."

"But-" The worried boy was silenced by a growl and was pulled towards the exit by his father, while the older feral held his cold eyes trained on the whimpering brunette, renewed fear came in waves from her. "Will Marie not drive with us?"

A strangled snarl rang from his throat – he usually wasn't this strict with his son. "No. She's your teacher and nothin' more. You'll only see her at school."

Marie swallowed hard, her throat hurt and burned like hell. She leaned back against the cool wall and slowly slid down, thanking God that he didn't squeeze any harder.

X

A/N: Liked it?

PS: ‚Diapers, SchoolBooks and Adamantium Claws' is finnaly updated with a new chapter!


	11. Chapter 10

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

A/N: Thanks for the many nice reviews!

soulsistersinaslan: The mutant – topic is still something hardly anybody wants to talk about (especially normal humans), but due to the new law (I made up as a result of the happenings in X3) 'normals' have to play nice now (and most would do it anyway, because they are afraid of mutants and their powers).

Now back to the story:

X

CHAPTER 10

It were two weeks since the incident and Victor hadn't spared her no more word than a 'hallo' when he picked his son up - no more quickies behind the dumpster or banter at the diner. No more talks about Logan…

A small part of Marie kind of missed the feral man, both feral men. Victor was her anchor to Logan. There was no one she could talk to about Logan like to Victor.

On the other hand (and this was a big reason) she was glad that he ignored her and she seemed to be out of the line of fire. The first nights after the incident, she locked her door and windows and slept with a knife on her bed stand, knowing how absurd those actions were. If Victor wanted her dead then nothing could stop him.

Then there were these murders of young women in the south of Washington D.C. that started the day of her 'talk'. The news reports told that the sadistic murderer first raped his victims and then let dogs tear the body apart, while the woman was still alive. When Marie had watched the first reportage at the diner's TV, she had to throw up and locked herself in the toilet for almost half an hour. She was sure there were no real animals involved, but a cold-blooded feral mutant. It was the best to restrain their contact to business – no more words than necessary.

Marie wondered how Vincent could be such a sweet and friendly boy, while his father was a rapist and killer. But the shy boy was like any other child and soon he was friends with most in his kindergarten class and she hadn't seen him in his corner playing alone ever since.

Marie stared at her watch again. _'6:26pm'_ Vincent was always the last one to be picked up, but today his father ran very late. She tried to sooth the worries of the boy and his questions of why his father won't come or send Connie to pick him up. On her question Heather had explained that Consuela was apparently Vincent's baby-sitter. The Hispanic woman in her mid-forties would come together with her nine year old daughter and pick the little feral up when his father had to work longer. And Marie suddenly remembered her first night with Victor and the text message he sent from his cell as soon as they left the sports bar.

Ten minutes past by till the headmaster (doing overtime for the little feral as well) came into the classroom with a phone in hand. "We were finally able to reach Mr. Creed." Vincent was relieved and ran to get the phone, but the man held the device towards Marie. "He wants to talk to you, Miss D'Ancanto."

Marie had a bad feeling when she took the phone –staying strangers with Victor was healthier – but now she had no choice. "Victor?"

The sound of a machine humming in the background made it hard for Marie to understand him, so was the bad connection, but she could hear his rough voice. "I have not much time, Stripes. I can't reach Vin's baby-sitter and there's an emergency mission. They need me. Dunno how long it'll take."

Suddenly there was static and Marie feared the connection was lost. "Vic?"

"Listen, Stripes. I don't know anyone else… take Vin with you till I'm back."

'_Was this his way of asking for a favor?'_ She heard him shout to someone behind him to shut the hell up and there was unmistakable anger in his voice. "Vic?"

"Will you stop sayin' my friggin' name and tell me if you do what I want!" He growled into the phone making everyone on the other end jump.

Marie looked down at the little boy. How could she say no? What would happen with Vincent while his father was on mission? And his wrath and a painful death would be her future – without doubt. "Well, yes."

"Good. Now giv-e me t-he cub!" The connection was getting worse. Marie obeyed and gave the phone to the boy. "Hallo, daddy!"

"Listen, cub, there's an emergency and Marie will take care of you."

"What's with Connie?"

"Her cell i-s turne-d off. You'll beh-ave and do wh-at Marie says."

"Yes, sir."

"Good, cu-b. I have to qu-it now. We'll se-e us in a few days."

"Ok, daddy. Bye." The connection was terminated and the boy returned the phone to the headmaster.

Marie crouched down to be on eye-level with the worried boy. "Looks like you'll come with me, Vinny."

X

Apparently the boy had an emergency backpack at school, just in case he had to sleep at his baby-sitter's and not at home. If she hadn't been so damn tired, Marie would have enjoyed the bus-ride a little more and the large eyes of the toddler. Vincent had never been at a bus before and it was cute how he searched for the safety belt and wondered how the bus-driver knew when someone wanted to get off the vehicle. On their way from the bus station to Marie's apartment, the boy held tightly onto Marie's hand, especially when strangers crossed their way. When they finally arrived in front of the large and old building, Vincent was baffled. "You sleep in a office?" This was not a house to live in like he knew from back home or from Connie's, he knew people worked in tall buildings - though this one wasn't as big as the skyscrapers he'd seen.

Marie fished for her keys and chuckled. "Office? No, honey." She unlocked the door and led the child up the stairs to the third floor. "Behind every door, there is an apartment and people live there."

"No house?" Then at an after-thought."What's a apartment?" he hoped they would be there soon, his legs hurt – was there no elevator?

"You'll see, pumpkin." After opening the door to her small apartment, she was impressed that the first thing the boy did, was to slip out of his shoes and place them neatly next to her sandals behind the door. Then he followed her over to the couch, where she placed his backpack and watched him turn in a circle, taking in her small home.

"The kitchen is in the living-room?" He wrinkled his forehead.

Marie sighed. "I know it's small." When it was just her, she would crawl under her blanket and sleep till her alarm-clock would wake her, but the boy needed supper and she should also eat for her baby's sake. "Do you like pizza?"

"Yes." Vincent was confused when he saw her open her miniature fridge with an even smaller freezer in it, instead of ordering a pizza via phone. "I don't like it cold." He narrowed his eyes and poked at the solid-frozen food.

Marie chuckled, the boy was so cute. "Don't worry. I'll heat it up." She ripped the plastic up and placed the frozen food in her stove. "It will take a few minutes, I'll show you around."

Vincent nodded and followed her to one of the three doors – the entrance not counting. It was a small bathroom with shower, toilet and sink. "Bathroom."

"Yep, and over here is my bedroom." Marie pointed to another door.

"Where will I sleep?" Vincent pondered if the last room might be a guest-room, but then he watched Marie lift the cushions from the couch and fetch a blanket and pillow from her wardrobe.

"I don't have a spare bed, so you have to sleep here." She saw his doubtful gaze. "I know it's not the best, but it's really comfy." The boy crawled onto his make-shift bed and let himself fall backwards. "And?"

Vincent turned around and smiled shyly. "Comfy."

"That's good to hear."

A few minutes later, they were sitting at her small kitchen-table and eating the pizza. "Where's the TV?" Vincent knew something bugged him from the first moment on.

"I don't have one yet."

"Why don't you have a house, Marie?" He looked like his world had turned up-side-down.

Marie gulped down her bite. "A house costs money. So does a car and a TV. I don't have so much money at the moment."

"That's stupid."

The brunette smiled about the comment.

X

After helping the boy change into his pj's, Marie tugged him under the blanket and began to read a story from a book she had borrowed from the kindergarten.

She sat there for a while, watching the sweet boy sleep and wondered what the future might bring, now that Victor was back in her life.

X

A/N: Some years ago, I was on vacation and befriended with a girl (18years), who was _alone_ away from home for the first time. It turned out her parents were really rich and she always went by car and when we went for a shopping trip to town she was like a little kid marveling about 'how I knew which bus to take, where and when we could catch it and how in the world did the bus-driver know that someone wants to get off'. I really had to keep myself from laughing.

I hope you liked this chapter.


	12. Chapter 11

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!

_ dreamgirllivi_: Just search after ROCTOR, there is one other author with Victor/Rogue.

_ soulsistersinaslan:_ I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it is Victor, who rapes and kills those women.

CHAPTER 11

The next morning, first thing Marie did was to wake her little guest, but to her astonishment Vincent sat in his blue pj's at the couch-table and was drawing a picture, his eyes falling close every few seconds. He was so tired that he hadn't heard her footsteps. "Good morning." She carefully sat down next to the toddler and eyed him with worry. "Did you sleep well?"

Vincent didn't want to make Marie sad, she tried so hard to make him feel comfortable. "Umm, yes." His eyes were cast down and he chewed on his bottom-lip.

The brunette sighed and lifted his chin with her index-finger, their gazes meeting. "Don't lie, Vinny. Why couldn't you sleep?" He didn't want to answer, it wasn't her fault. "Did you miss your dad?"

He kept chewing on his lip. "It was loud."

"Loud?"

He didn't smell anger or disappointment from his favorite teacher, so he looked up, confident to tell her the truth. "There are no cars driving at home."

Marie furrowed her brows until the meaning hit her. "Oh, sorry. Ah forgot your super hearing." She hugged him. "Ah'm sorry, honey." The first nights at her apartment had also kept her wake for long hours, the police-cars and traffic were terrible at first, but she got used to the noise at night quite fast.

Vincent slung his small arms around her and pressed his face against her middle. He liked Marie. She was so nice and smelled so fine. Suddenly he frowned and pushed back, meeting her eyes. "Do you have two hearts?"

"Huh?" Marie knew her expression must have been very funny. "What do you mean?"

"Do you have two hearts?" The toddler repeated and pointed at the young woman. "I hear two hearts."

"Oh." She began chewing on her lip, just as the boy did a few minutes before. How should she explain this to the child? "Well, one heartbeat is from me and the other one is from mah baby."

"Your baby?" Vincent looked at her like she was stupid. "It's inside you?"

Her hand stroked her middle absently. "Well, yes."

"How did it got inside?" Suddenly the boy was very awake and curious.

"Umm." She saw his expectant expression. "It's best you ask your dad this, once he's back, ok?" Yep, this was the best solution. This way the topic was closed and Victor had no reason to strangle her for telling something to his son, the boy shouldn't know in his opinion. "But keep this a secret." She begged inwardly. "Don't tell about the baby."

"Ok." Vincent wondered why he shouldn't tell and if his daddy knew, but he always wanted to have a secret to keep other than his mutation. Secrets were cool.

They sat there a while longer until Marie glanced onto her watch. "We're going to be late and miss our bus. Go to the bathroom. Ah'll be there in a sec." She hurried over to the backpack and fetched a second tee-shirt and pants from it. In the bathroom she swiftly pulled the shirt over his head, washed his face and chest with a washcloth and had his tee-shirt on him before he could blink twice. He watched her with curious eyes brush his hair and obeyed when she helped him slip into his new boxers and pants.

When Marie was done with the child, she smiled at the feral, who stared at his reflection perplexed. "You're done and ready for breakfast, honey."

The boy looked himself up and down in the mirror, nodding slowly. "Daddy takes longer…" _'But he files my nails.'_ He thought and pushed this information to the back of his mind – he never liked this part of his morning-routine.

"And then they say, women need an eternity in the bathroom…" Smirking Marie led him to the kitchen and placed a bowl, milk, spoon and cornflakes before the boy. "Start eating, Ah'll be there in a moment." The brunette rushed into her bedroom, fetched her clothes from her wardrobe and was within seconds in the bathroom, getting herself ready for the day.

When she returned, Vincent was smashing the flakes with his spoon. Marie sighed. "You don't like this, huh?"

Hesitating a little, the boy met her understanding gaze and nodded. "I like the brown ones. With the bear on the box." And put a spoon full of the squishy stuff into his mouth, making a face while swallowing.

Taking the bowl from under his nose, Marie walked over to the bathroom and flushed the disliked breakfast down the toilet. Vincent stared at her near tears – he was hungry and tired and now his baby-sitter was angry with him – but before he began to cry, Marie smiled at him with sympathy. "We'll fetch muffins and eat them at the bus."

X

They raced down the sidewalk, his small hand firmly in hers, and entered a diner out of breath. Marie rushed to the counter, before an old woman could reach it, and smiled at her boss, while Vincent stood next to her, hidden by the counter due to his small size. "Hi, Tina. Two chocolate muffins please. And could you hurry, mah bus is just around the corner."

Tina nodded and threw two muffins into a paper-bag, handing it to her waitress, while the money lay already on the counter.

"Thanks and bye." Marie said and sprinted away with a little boy on her hand.

Luckily there were many people getting off the bus and so they caught their ride and even got a seat. "We'll get up earlier tomorrow." The boy on her lap nodded, still catching his breath. "And we'll get some food you like this afternoon."

X

At the kindergarten they were the first ones and Vincent sat down onto his pillow for the 'morning circle meeting', waiting patiently for the other kids to arrive. Soon Heather walked in and found a sleeping feral on the floor, hugging his pillow. She approached Marie, who busied herself with the animal-cards they would use in the morning circle. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Heather." Marie smiled.

"How was the night with Vincent?" This question made the brunette look towards the little boy and a chuckle escaped her at his cute sight.

"I slept well, but the traffic kept Vinny awake and he only told me this morning." She placed the cards onto a table. "I'll buy earplugs."

"We better let him sleep a little longer." Heather suggested.

X

Kindergarten was as usual only that Marie was on her way home a whole hour earlier. She silently cursed Victor for his daily stop at the diner while his son was the only child waiting to be picked up. "Selfish asshole." The words had escaped her lips before she remembered the presence of the toddler, who gapped at her like she had grown a second head. "Umm, sorry." _'Does his dad never curse in front of him?'_

They got off the bus and Vincent was already going in the direction of her apartment, but she stopped him with a smile. "We wanted to go shopping, remember?" _'He's bright; he knows exactly where mah apartment is.'_

Vincent took the offered hand and followed her to a grocery-store on the other side of the street. As soon as they had a cart, the small boy began climbing on it and eventually - with a little help of Marie – sat in it proudly. "Seems like Ah'm your driver?" Marie joked and began to push the cart. "Where do want to go, sir?"

The toddler thought only a split of a second. "Sweets!"

Laughing Marie steered the boy thru the rows of shelves, putting milk, pasta and other items around his little body. "Here are the cereals. Which one do you like, Vinny?" The little feral staggered to his feet and fished with some difficulty the desired box from a rag, hugging it to his chest.

"This one."

"Fine. How about orange juice?" The boy beamed at her with a nod.

The sweets-decision took a half eternity, but Marie was glad that the boy didn't throw a tantrum, when she put five of his six bags back – well, she was bribing him with ice-cream…

At the check-out-counter, Vincent helped to put all items onto the conveyor and then took the paper bag with his cereals and insisted to carry those alone. At first, Marie was uncomfortable at the thought to don't hold the child by the hand – who knew if he wouldn't suddenly take off – but the boy was like a good trained dog walking by her side.

Before they got the promised ice-cream they made a quick stop at the drugstore, buying the earplugs in toddler size. Finally at home Marie began putting everything into the cupboards – or rather squeezed everything in – while Vincent finished his melding strawberry-ice cream. "What do you want for supper, Vinny? Fish sticks with mashed potatoes or pasta?"

"Fish." The boy answered and licked the pink ice-cream from his fingers.

With a disbelieving look Marie watched the toddler lick the sticky stuff from his shirt. "You are a little piggy, ain't you?" She picked him up and held him over the sink. While he washed his hands, she wiped his smeared mouth with her wet palm. "Ah have to wash tomorrow anyway." She said and was about to pull the dirty shirt over his head, when a wave of nausea hit her and she made it barely to the toilet.

Wrinkling his nose about the stench, Vincent waited in the doorway. He was really worried when Marie leaned back and was pale with sweat on her forehead. "Are you sick?"

She slowly shook her head and sat back against the cool tiles, giving her body a moment to calm down. The minutes ticked by and Vincent felt like crying until Marie got slowly back to her feet and flushed the toilet, before brushing her teeth – that taste was gross.

Vincent followed her to the kitchen worried sickly – adults were supposed to be healthy, always. "You don't have to make supper, Marie." He sat next to her at the table and watched her drink some bitter smelling juice. Medicine he was sure. Only medicine smelled so yucky.

The brunette smiled, moved by his words. "Don't worry, Vinny. Ah'm fine again." He didn't believe her, this was for sure. "Ah vomit every day. It's the baby."

"The baby makes you sick?"

"Kinda. But it will be better soon." She stood up and fetched a pan. "Let's make the fish before it swims away."

X

After a bed-time-story Marie plugged the earplugs into his ears and the little feral didn't like it one bit. He was tired and cranky and the plugs felt weird in his ears and soon thick tears were flowing down his cheeks and Marie was at her wits' ends. It took her half an hour and six short-stories till the boy had calm down and had fallen asleep. Now all she had to do was pushing the plugs into his ears without waking him. Easier said than done. Every time she had one in his ear, his small hand stroked over the foreign object and pulled it free again.

Sighing Marie looked around her small home for anything that might help. _'Patches! Ah could tape the stuff to his ears!'_ This wasn't the best solution, but the only one her tired mind came up with.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter!


	13. Chapter 12

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

A/N: Big thanks for the reviews!

_ soulsistersinaslan_: Victor didn't lie about the mission. In the beginning of Chapter 10 I said it were two weeks since he tried to strangle Marie. In those two weeks he 'eased' his tension and anger on some unlucky women, till he got the order from the CIA for a mission (you can bet that the women in his destination country aren't safe from him if he has an itch to be scratched – if you think it's too OOC, I recommend to watch the beginning of origins again). He don't necessarily kills his victims, but he surely rapes them and if he's in bad temper they won't survive it…

X

CHAPTER 12

The next morning was much quieter than the last one. The alarm-clock woke her a half hour earlier and Vincent was still fast asleep while she got herself ready and the breakfast onto the table.

Marie began to enjoy the hour more freedom from work. As soon as they were at home from kindergarten, they went down to the basement with the laundry. Vincent was happy to help and stuffed all dirty clothes into the washer. A proud smile creased his featured when he was allowed to push the start-button and watched the machine spring to life.

They had over an hour till laundry was done and so Marie thought it time for a stop at the 99 cent store nearby. There weren't many toys, but still the boy was fascinated by the variety to choose from. On her question he told her that he had a lot of toys, but he had never been at a toy store before. In this moment Marie decided if the meager collection of this store already made his huge eyes twinkle with happiness, then she would make Victor take his son to a real toy-store; maybe ToysRus.

Vincent was a little hesitant at first – Marie hadn't much money – but she assured him, this store was cheap and he could have a few things. So a coloring book, playing cards with dinosaurs, a matchbox car and a ball were soon his own, like the Pokemon- and BenTen shirts, the boy insisted to wear both on Monday, showing them to his friends.

X

The following day was spent with an ample breakfast. Vincent had enjoyed stirring the scrambled eggs and pushing the toast bread down in the toaster while Marie made cocoa. It was Saturday and Marie still had a few hours till her shift at the diner, so she took the little feral to the playground, where he liked the swings the most.

Marie had dismissed the idea of calling Tina, telling her she was sick – she needed the money and she would have to break the news about her pregnancy soon, no need to give Tina more reasons to kick her out. And Vincent had already proved that he could keep himself busy for hours, when he played alone in his corner. It amazed her that for a feral, the boy was quiet and could sit for a long time. On the other hand it might be his predator instincts, lurking his prey.

Anyway, she had no other choice than to take the toddler with her to work. When they entered the diner, Tina was already waiting with a bunch of questions and took her and the child to her office in the back. "You never mentioned a child, Marie. Who-"

The brunette placed her hands onto the toddler's shoulders and smiled at her boss. "This is Vincent. He's Victor's son. You know the tall mutant, usually eating here."

Tina shuddered at the memory and scrutinized the child for a moment. The boy had dark hair and blue eyes like his father, but other than the older feral, he was everything else than scary and looked not like an animal.

Vincent felt awkward with this woman starring at him. So he smiled at her, his canines flashing in the dim light. "Hallo." But her scent told him this wasn't a good action - she was uncomfortable.

Tina forced a smile onto her lips at the sight of the boy's teeth – he _was_ just like his father. "H- hallo." Then her gaze returned to her waitress. "Why is he with you? Where's his father?" She frowned somewhat. "He wasn't here the last few days…"

Marie took a deep breath. "Well, Victor has business abroad and I'm taking care of Vincent till he's back." She stroked over his head. "He's a good boy and won't bother the customers." The toddler nodded at that and Tina stared at the pair, contemplating her options – the diner would be full with hungry people in a few minutes.

"Fine, get to work, Marie." The blond hurried outside and took the order of an elderly couple while Marie left her bag in the office and followed her outside.

The brunette lifted Vincent up onto a stool at the counter, placing his crayons and coloring book in front of him. "Ah'll have to work now. Please stay here, sweetie."

X

Vincent watched his teacher taking orders, serving food and drinks and tiding up the tables, after the people had paid and left. He noted how stressed she was and that her smile was forced – he smelled her anger about one man in particular, who ordered several extras and then insisted the meat was medium instead of rare, through the blood was still flowing from the food. He didn't understand why someone was mean on purpose and contemplated to go over and help Marie, but then he remembered his father's words that children shouldn't interfere with adults' businesses. Luckily the blond woman, Marie had called Tina the other day, went over and took on the difficult man, resulting in her giving in and him paying only the half.

When Tina returned to the counter, the boy looked up to her, smelling her anger equaled Marie's. "That's unfair. He lied 'bout the meat."

The blond snorted about the truth of his words. "I know. But I don't need him ruin my business and be called anti-mutant." She walked away muttering under her breath – sure the small boy wouldn't hear it "Damn muties! Think they can do everything now with the new law on their side.".

Confused, Vincent looked back at the man and then noticed his yellow eyes and piranha like teeth, when he wolfed his meal down. Meanwhile Marie served a family their ordered dishes and another customer – a really old couple (Vincent guessed them in his naivety to be more than 200 years old) – asked for more napkins. The boy felt sorry for Marie and hadn't missed her secret vomiting at the toilet not long ago. So he grasped a few paper napkins from the counter, slid down from his stool and walked over to the old people. "Here's your nabkins."

The woman was at first startled from where the voice came, but then saw the little boy offering her the requested items. "Oh, thank you, young man." She smiled at him and took the paper-napkins from his hands, when the brunette waitress came over. "Vinny, please don't run around here."

"I didn't."

The nice old woman smiled at Marie. "Your son was so kind and brought me the napkins. He didn't bother us."

"Umm, thanks, I guess… Is there anything else you need?" Marie let the subject of 'son' drop, it didn't matter what those people thought anyway.

"No, thank you."

Marie walked Vincent back to his seat and helped him up. "Thanks, honey, but please stay here, Ah don't wanna worry if someone takes you with them."

Vincent frowned. "Why should someone take me away?"

Marie looked helpless up to the ceiling – she didn't want to make him fear the world. "Cuz you're such a sweet boy." This made him smile shyly back at her.

Sunday flew by and Vincent had drawn a lot of pictures while Marie worked at the diner and so Monday had arrived and Vincent – in his new BenTen-shirt – was playing catch with a little 'hide and seek' mixed in with his friends at the school's small playground.

Of all of his new friends he liked Chloe the best. She was nice to him and always asked if she was too loud for him. At the moment the toddlers hid under the slide, but Vincent's nose told him that Jessie was approaching them from behind. He grasped Chloe by the wrist and pulled her behind himself to her feet – as he always did, the two were hardly ever caught – but this time the girl screamed in pain and wriggled her hand from his touch, tears streaming down her cheeks.

At first Vincent had thought, Jessie had gotten her, but then he saw the bleeding scratches on her hand, the other children's terrified eyes on him or rather his fingers. He slowly lifted his hand, his sharp nails covered in blood – Chloe's blood. He was like frozen, starring at the wounded girl, while the teachers were rushing over to them. "I'm sorry." Vincent whispered and tears bleared his vision.

All three women crouched next to the crying girl, Heather inspecting the cuts while Marie stroked soothingly her back. From what the brunette could see, it wasn't really bleeding and wouldn't need stitches. Her boss lifted the girl up and ordered Camille to hold the doors open, bringing her to the nurse.

Marie's gaze swapped from Chloe's tear streamed face to Vincent's horrified one. He stood there like paralyzed and starred at his blood-covered nails. She carefully walked over to him, stroking his head, her voice calm and comforting. "It was an accident, Vinny. Chloe will be fine again." She knew exactly how the little boy felt. "Ah know you didn't want to hurt her."

Slowly he turned his watery gaze to her kind features, finding no fear or accuse but understanding in it. His blood-covered hand was trembling. "I didn't want to hurt Chloe!"

"I know, sweetie." With a wink, his tears flew freely and he closed the distance to Marie, burying his face in her chest, her arms hugging him tightly to her. "Shh, it was an accident."

When the little mutant had calmed down somewhat, Marie brought him inside – all other children following her – and carefully washed his hands.

The boy sniffed. "Daddy files my nails every morning." He confessed, his eyes casted down to the floor. "I don't like it."

"Oh, Vinny." Marie sighed, she could understand him. She also had hated her gloves and scarves. "But we have to file your nails."

He nodded with a sob. "I know."

Marie fetched her bag and rummaged in it, coming up with an emery board.

Vincent looked at the tool bewildered. "Too small."

Now it was Marie's turn to look confused. "That's a normal nail file. How big is the one your dad uses?" She asked tentatively and the boy held his hands good eleven inches apart. _'He won't?... But it's Sabretooth …'_ She mused and got to her feet. "I think I know what you mean." She could hardly leave the toddlers without a chaperon. "Best is everyone comes with me. Please always two, taking each other by the hands."

She didn't miss, that everyone stayed away from Vincent and the boy had buried his hands in his pockets. She led the group to the craft room (I hope this is the right expression). Luckily the room was not in use and she ordered the children to take a seat, while she rummaged in the tool boxes for a file.

She chose a fine file and showed it to the little feral. "Does your dad use such a file?" Vincent nodded, visibly afraid of the tool. Marie took a seat opposite the boy and carefully took his small hand in hers, beginning her work. After a minute, she was sure any normal nail file would be useless at the small, but hard claws. "Tell me, if it hurts, Vinny." The boy nodded.

All children were quietly starring at the scene, fear still in their eyes. After she was done with two fingers, Marie looked up to her class. "You all have to know, that this was an accident. Vincent didn't want to hurt anyone." New tears welled up in the feral's eyes. "And it's also my fault."

This statement made not only Vincent look up. "Why is it your fault?" Cameron inquired.

"You all know that Vinny's dad is away at the moment and I look after him." The next finger was done. "Who of you would want to get their nails filed with this huge thingy? Every day?" The brunette asked and received only head shakes. "I thought so. And Vinny doesn't like it either." She locked eyes with the boy. "So he didn't tell me this and his nails grew and grew…" Finally the first hand was done. "It was an accident and you don't have to fear Vincent. I'm sure he'll let his nails file from now on."

The small mutant nodded. "I'll let them file. Every day."

When Marie had finished the second hand, she slipped his foot from his shoe, earning a startled look from all children. "We should do your toes as well, before they shred your socks."

"My toes?"

Marie pulled the sock from his foot – surprised it was still intact. "Huh?" She inspected the short nails. _'Vic's toes are as deadly as his fingers, but Vinny's look normal…'_ Carefully she ran her fingertip over the nails of his toes. "Umm, does your dad use the file on your toes?"

Vincent shook his head wide eyed – not liking the idea of his toes being also filed. "No. Never." This was the truth after all.

X

A/N: Please review!


	14. Chapter 13

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

A/N: Big thanks for the reviews!

X

CHAPTER 13

When Marie and her class returned to their room, Heather and Camille were waiting there anxiously. "God, Marie, where have you been?" Heather's gaze travelled over all toddlers, making sure no one was missing.

"I took care of Vincent's claws at the craft room." Marie placed her hand on top of the boy's shoulder, while the other women starred at her like she had grown a second head.

"The craft room?" Camille pressed out.

J.D. stepped forward and held his hands at least twenty inches apart. "With a giant file!" He suddenly noticed how loud he was and looked apologetic at the feral. "Sorry."

Marie frowned and became worried, when Chloe were nowhere to be seen. "Where's Chloe?"

"Her nanny picked her up."

Vincent approached Heather, his eyes twinkling with new tears. "Did I hurt her bad?"

At the sight of the boy's misery the woman's own uneasiness evaporated. She kneed down and patted his head. "No. The nurse only cleaned her wound and bandaged it."

X

Marie hadn't been the only one afraid that Vincent would be feared and ignored by the other children, but her explanation seemed to have fruited and he was playing with Cameron and the twins now - the other kids in the all day kindergarten program. Suddenly his eyes widened in recognition at the new smell. His head shot up and he jumped to his feet, a bright smile lighting up his features. "Daddy!" He rushed over to the man leaning lazily against the doorframe.

Victor picked his son up, a grin on his lips when the small arms slung around his neck. "Missed me, cub?"

Vincent buried his nose in his father's neck, breathing in his scent. "Yes."

Marie kept her distance, though she watched father and son curiously – the older mutant's smile seemed genuine. Heather wasn't this careful and approached the two, disturbing the greeting and was rewarded with a predatory glare that made her shudder. "W- welcome back, Mr. Creed." She immediately regretted to have said anything at all as he bared one of his canines.

"Thanks." _'Yes, frail, fear me and learn your place.'_ His eyes burned into her and she didn't dare to come any closer. He never really liked this female – not that there were any females he liked, that is. Her posture and all screamed victim. No challenge. Though he would have had his fun with her, but his cub liked her, so he wouldn't touch her.

Scenting, he looked his son up and down, making sure he was alright. "Did somethin' happen I should know of?" His eyes were suddenly trained on the brunette, who looked startled up, meeting his stare. There was fear mixed in her scent, since their encounter, yet she mustered her courage and held his gaze, nearing him slowly and carefully.

"Well…" Marie pondered on her words, but Heather had somehow snatched Vincent's jacket and pressed it into the brunette's hands, almost pushing her towards the two mutants and the exit. "I'm sure you and Mr. Creed have a lot to catch up. You can go now, Marie."

The Southern spitfire had almost snapped at her, if she was nuts, but she held her tongue, after all the woman was her boss and she had to tell her about the baby soon. With a deep breath, she forced a smile onto her lips. "Thank you, Heather. See you tomorrow." She turned around to the children. "Bye, sweeties."

X

Without another word, Marie followed Victor to his car – he apparently wanted to talk to her while driving. At least this way he couldn't skewer her without accident and endangering his son. When he revived the engine, his cold eyes narrowed on her. "Well?"

Marie told him the incident with Chloe and he luckily – and to her astonishment – remained calm and didn't seem angry. But Vincent began to cry anew – not afraid of his father's reaction – this amazed the brunette as well – but afraid Chloe might hate him now. The boy pleaded that he would let his nails be filed from now on without arguing and how sorry he was. "Are you mad at me, Marie?" He eventually asked. "For not telling you."

Marie turned around in her seat and smiled at the distressed child. "Ah'm not mad at you, sweetie. Ah can understand that you don't like the file."

"Nobody's mad at you, cub. It was an accident just like Marie said." He tried to keep the growl out of his voice – he didn't like it when his cub cried about some nothingness – or in this case a stupid frail.

"But Chloe will be mad!" Vincent sobbed.

From the corner of her eyes Marie saw Victor roll his eyes and grasp the steering-wheel tighter. This was a situation he couldn't handle – not without bloodshed and she somehow doubt he would raise his claws against his son. "Hey, Vinny. How about we buy chocolate or something and you'll give it to Chloe tomorrow, telling her how sorry you are." Suddenly the boy was calm, but his father growled at her, but kept quiet.

"You think she won't be mad then?" Hope was evident in his voice and features and he wiped his tears away.

Marie ignored the growl from the driver seat and smiled at the toddler. "Sure, Vinny."

X

Instead of stopping the car in front of her apartment, Victor surprised her by halting at the parking lot of the next store they came across, that happened to be a Wal-Mart. He fished a cigarette from the package in the glove department, his emotionless eyes on the confused brunette. "Will you get out and buy some crap so the cub'll stop the whailin'?"

"M-me?" Marie starred at the mutant stunned. Maybe getting out of the car wasn't such a bad idea – at the moment he didn't seem in the mood to strangle her – and maybe he would simply drive away, leaving her behind.

"Yes you." He flipped his lighter open and didn't miss the disapproving glare the woman shot him when he lit his cigarette. "Get the cub and hurry. Don't wanna spend all day for this shit!"

Vincent was smiling and opened his safety-seat's belt, while Marie didn't move an inch. So much about leaving her behind… "Why me? He's your son!" Not so long ago, he had told her that Vincent was not her business.

He took a drag from his cigarette and growled at this persistent female. "It's your stupid idea, Stripes!"

The way he said her nick-name, made Marie confident and bolder – he wasn't really angry, just grumpy. "And he is your son, Victor!" She held his glare, ignoring the chill running down her spine. "Come with us and pay at least."

"Wtf!" She wasn't backing down, he could tell, though a trace of fear lingered in her scent. To his dismay, Vincent beamed at her idea.

"Yes, daddy, come with us!"

Murmuring curses, Victor starred daggers at the brunette, but opened his door, not missing the boy gapping about his choice of words. Outside the car Vincent was immediately between the two adults and took each their hands in his small ones and began pulling them towards the entrance eagerly. The large mutant inhaled the calming nicotine and earned yet another glare of the brunette – but ignored her.

Marie had confirmed her impression that his son's welfare was one of the primary objectives for the moody and unpredictable feral. Thus, she mustered her courage and snapped at him, when he exhaled directly towards her. "Smoking is bad for a child! Vinny doesn't have a working healing factor!" When the boy had fallen once at kindergarten and his knee had been bleeding, Marie had been surprised at first that the wound didn't knit back together immediately, then that it only took four days to heal without leaving a scar – there was a healing factor in the background without a doubt.

The growl was vibrating in his throat. "I hadn't smoked in front of my cub, if _you_ had moved your ass quicker and had taken him with you out of the car!" She could be happy that he was in a rather good mood today, but she apparently decided to try his nerves further when she took a cart and helped his son climb into it. "What's that for?"

Marie smiled evilly at the feral man, knowing that he would hate it. "Vinny told me he was never in a toy store before." She didn't miss his jaw clench and how his cold eyes centered on her. "This ain't a ToysRus, but Ah'm sure Vinny will have his fun."

The toddler's large eyes sparkled with joy. "Can we look at the toys, daddy? Please?"

Victor growled and made some other customers look scared their way. "Fine. But only ten minutes." _'Won't hurt. And I could watch her with the cub. Gonna have to pay Consuela a visit. If there ain't a good explanation of why she had her fuckin' cell turned off, I'll need a new baby-sitter and Stripes seems to be the right one for this job.'_ Not that he had another choice if Consuela wasn't available any more. _'Ain't like there's a frail waitin' for me at home.'_ He furrowed his brows as he reminded his latest victim and her current whereabouts in his holding-cell under his house. _'Well, she ain't an option even if she's still alive.'_ He flicked his cigarette onto the pavement and stepped on it before entering the store. _'I don't have to forget to get rid of her body tonight.'_

X

A/N: I hope you liked it!


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